04/04/2017 Midlands Today

Police are warning drivers to be extra vigilant after a spate

19 people have been arrested including a boy of 13.

Amy Cole has been talking to one woman who was robbed

Two years ago, Nikki Law-Priddey was dragged into the road

when a thief jumped into her car and drove off.

And last year, Anthony Mathers fought off an armed gang who tried

Sarah is now using her husband's car after their top-of-the-range Kia

estate was stolen in Moseley one morning last week.

She's still so traumatised we've agreed not to show her face.

Sarah was accosted by two men - one of whom was on the driver's side

I was just holding on to the steering wheel, I don't know why.

It was my natural instinct to protect the car.

somebody was trying to get into the passenger door.

Sarah screamed out the window for help which caused both men

So they backed off but then came back and it was worse.

Yes, that's when he got the knife out.

All I remember is him looking me straight in the eye and saying,

"Get out of the car," and then this knife came towards me

cannot do this, I have a two-year-old son

West Midlands Police says today they've arrested 11 people

and charged five in connection with a spate of car jackings

The arrests have been young males from the age of 13 to late teens.

There is the suspicion that young males are being

encouraged to get involved by those who have already done it which is

As for Sarah, she's scared now when she goes out driving

Senior Church of England leaders have criticised Cadbury over

a decision to drop the word 'Easter' from its annual egg hunt.

300 events - called the Cadbury Great British Egg Hunt -

are taking place at National Trust properties across the country.

Even the Prime Minister has intervened, calling

Laura May McMullan is at Cadbury in Birmingham for us tonight.

Laura, what's been the reaction today?

Well, who would have thought - the humble Easter egg

It's actually caused a huge national furore and all sparked off

The Archbishop of York has said by not including the word "Easter"

in the company's egg hunts, it's like "spitting in the face"

of Cadbury's religious founder, John Cadbury.

And local religious leaders are also infuriated.

They are making money from selling eggs at a time of Easter celebration

without referencing, without name-checking, Easter,

Christianity or faith, and I think that is taking advantage

Well, annual egg hunts at National Trust properties have

been taking place for more than ten years now and in the past they've

Well, for one the Prime Minister has called it "ridiculous" and people

we've spoken to today are not happy.

I think people are getting a bit too politically correct.

Being a Sikh myself, I think it is important to remember

We live in a Christian country and they are

supposed to be Christian people. No.

And, Laura, what has Cadbury had to say?

They say Easter is referred to on much of its packaging and marketing.

Also the National Trust has denied downplaying

the significance of Easter and says there are thousands of references

Some business leaders are saying it's just been blown out

of all proportion and others say it's nothing but a storm

The family of a man who was murdered at a tram stop last Friday,

57-year-old Anthony Banting was stabbed several times

after getting off a tram at Soho Benson Road in Birmingham.

The father of four had been on his way to meet one of his sons.

His family are urging anyone with information

It was an eyesore that infuriated local residents and now

Staffordshire County Council has started clearing up more

than 300 tonnes of waste which was dumped in a wood.

The rubbish was fly-tipped in Madeley Heath in January,

blocking a car park and a public footpath.

Here's our Staffordshire reporter, Liz Copper.

300 tonnes of waste, a serious environmental

The clean-up has begun in Walton's Wood in Madeley Heath.

Contractors have been called in to shift the mounds

This is fly-tipping on an industrial scale and this sort of activity

has been preplanned, I would suggest.

It takes a lot of organisation to get trucks in here,

so unfortunately it is considerable environmental damage.

The waste includes shredded paper and bandages.

It will be taken away to be incinerated.

The ground will also have to be scoured by litter pickers to make

This waste was dumped overnight but it will take days to clear up

Sharing that cost will be the Forestry Commission,

It is just totally and utterly unacceptable.

You can hear the birdsong in the background.

This is something that is increasing recently and certainly on a big

Already a criminal investigation is well under way.

The maximum penalty for anyone convicted of this is an unlimited

A portrait of the man who built a dizzyingly high monument

in Shropshire has been discovered in Australia -

Distant relatives of John Straphen - who built Lord Hill's Column

in Shrewsbury - have donated the painting to the town's

And today they saw the famous statue for the first time.

Lord Hill's kept watch over Shrewsbury and beyond for 200 years.

Standing 130 feet up, he's higher than Nelson's Column,

But the man who built the column in 1815 is not so familiar.

Warwick Horsfall is a distant relation of builder John Straphen,

and he's travelled here with his wife from home

in Australia to see the column for the first time.

I'm not much of a fan of heights so I don't think I can get

to the top but it is a dominant part of the skyline.

He learnt his ancestor took over building the column

when the original contractor died and he donated the spiral staircase.

Warwick has brought a gift from halfway across the world.

The portrait's been passed through generations of Warwick's

family in Australia, though no-one knows

So today Warwick gave the portrait to Shrewsbury.

The painting has been hanging on the wall of our family home

where I grew up and a few generations before

that, in the corner of the dining room,

I must admit I didn't pay it too much attention.

The portrait's in the museum and art gallery.

As for Lord Hill, five years ago surveyors said

so the Friends of Lord Hill's Column are trying to raise half a million

A busy night of football so let's get stuck into the results.

In the Premier League, Stoke City lost 1-0 at Burnley,

while West Bromwich Albion were also beaten - at Watford by 2-0.

In the Championship, Jonathan Kodjia was on the scoresheet again,

as Aston Villa beat Queen's Park Rangers by 1-0.

Birmingham lost 3-1 at Brighton, while Wolves made it five

wins in a row by beating Nottingham Forest 1-0 at Molineux.

And in League One, Port Vale had Danny Pugh sent off

And Shrewsbury stay in the relegation zone

after suffering their fourth consecutive defeat -

I'll be back with Midlands Today at six-thirty tomorrow

Until then, I'll leave you with the weather from Shefali.

After a cloudy start, what a glorious day. Plenty of spring

sunshine for most but not all. The cloud hung around in parts of

Warwickshire. But temperatures still reached 15 Celsius. That was despite

a northerly breeze. We are looking to get into the high teens by the

end of the week. That's because the wind is going to change to a

southerly. It is settled tonight. Clear skies across the region. In

rural spots, temperatures may fall just enough for a touch of frost.

The winds are becoming later through the night. It is going to be a sunny

start to the day but gradually we will see this cloud sync southwards.

It is mainly high to medium level cloud. The maximum tomorrow will be

13 Celsius in the south west with the moderate north-westerly wind.

That's it. The national forecast is next and

bit from the south, so we could get to 18 or higher on Sunday. Now the

national focus. Good evening, things are looking good in the next

few days, some pressure drifting in from the Atlantic, bringing some

finance settled with it. Just some questions about the amount of cloud

we will see under that. The cloud we saw the sea links gave rise to a

lovely sunsets are many areas. This is the view from one of our weather

watchers in Cornwall. Look at the tones in the sky in Warwickshire

this evening. Here is the satellite sequence which

shows it was pretty gloomy on the eastern side of England. Not much

rain, but a good swathe of sunshine for many early on. In the

north-west, showers. Gusty