:00:00. > :00:13.The football world has been paying tribute to the former Aston Villa
:00:14. > :00:16.and England defender Ugo Ehiogu, who has died of a cardiac
:00:17. > :00:20.Described as a "gentle giant", he started out as a trainee
:00:21. > :00:24.He then went on to play more than 200 games for Villa,
:00:25. > :00:26.helping them win the League Cup in 1996.
:00:27. > :00:31.Reflecting the sentiments of so many.
:00:32. > :00:33.The single bunch of flowers that said thanks for nine years
:00:34. > :00:36.Ugo Ehiogu's career began as a talented teenager
:00:37. > :00:42.And that is where he caught the eye of the Villa boss, Ron Atkinson.
:00:43. > :00:46.It proved to be one of the most astute signings of his career.
:00:47. > :00:50.The first game he ever played for the Villa
:00:51. > :00:52.was a friendly with Witney Town, a pre-season friendly.
:00:53. > :00:57.who had seen a few good centre halves, by the way,
:00:58. > :01:01.and the first challenge he made, Cowans almost went white.
:01:02. > :01:07.He looked at me and went, "Oh, he is awesome!"
:01:08. > :01:12.Ugo soon became a favourite with Aston Villa fans.
:01:13. > :01:14.In 1991, he joined the club from West Bromwich ?40,000.
:01:15. > :01:16.Nine years later, he was sold to Middlesbrough
:01:17. > :01:26.During his time at Villa Park, Ehiogu scored a dozen goals,
:01:27. > :01:30.but his real forte was preventing them.
:01:31. > :01:32.In 1996, he helped Villa win the League Cup at Wembley.
:01:33. > :01:37.So did team-mates like Ian Taylor, Lee Hendrie and the England manager,
:01:38. > :01:51.He had a passion for the club that you don't see these days any more.
:01:52. > :01:55.The picture on there, you know, in '96, when we won the League Cup.
:01:56. > :01:58.Today's media conference at the Villa training ground
:01:59. > :02:06.Suddenly, the Second City derby on Sunday did not seem quite
:02:07. > :02:10.It's a tragedy. It puts football into perspective.
:02:11. > :02:15.Someone has lost their life, which is just terrible news.
:02:16. > :02:17.Only six months ago, Ugo Ehiogu travelled to Telford
:02:18. > :02:19.for the funeral of his former Villa team-mate, Dalian Atkinson.
:02:20. > :02:21.Now, family and fans across the country will mourn
:02:22. > :02:24.his own premature death at the age of 44.
:02:25. > :02:37.A man who loved football, loved music and loved life.
:02:38. > :02:39.A Coventry firm which supplies car parts for Jaguar Landrover,
:02:40. > :02:49.The 350 people who work at Cov Press Assembly,
:02:50. > :02:51.have been told it is not profitable enough,
:02:52. > :02:53.even though the company has a ?40 million a year turnover.
:02:54. > :02:55.No redundancies have yet been announced.
:02:56. > :02:57.Nine hospitals in our region are to benefit from just
:02:58. > :02:59.over ?5 million of extra government money.
:03:00. > :03:01.It is designed to help struggling A departments.
:03:02. > :03:03.NHS Trusts in Worcestershire, Dudley and Warwickshire will be
:03:04. > :03:05.the biggest beneficiaries, with each of them getting ?1 million.
:03:06. > :03:08.The cash is to help them meet the target for seeing
:03:09. > :03:20.A West Midlands trade unionist has failed in his challenge to take over
:03:21. > :03:25.Gerard Coyne lost out by just over 5,500 votes, to Len McCluskey.
:03:26. > :03:27.It emerged yesterday that Mr Coyne has been suspended from his role
:03:28. > :03:31.Following today's result, he said it was not a fair fight.
:03:32. > :03:33.During this campaign, I felt that the weight of
:03:34. > :03:36.the union machine has definitely been behind the incumbent.
:03:37. > :03:38.Even up until the last minute, in terms of recent events,
:03:39. > :03:49.that has been a pressure on me during that campaign.
:03:50. > :03:52.Birmingham City Council has confirmed it is a step closer
:03:53. > :03:53.to bidding to host the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
:03:54. > :03:56.The government said today it is ready to work with cities
:03:57. > :04:01.The South African city of Durban is no longer in the running,
:04:02. > :04:03.after failing to meet conditions set out by the ruling body.
:04:04. > :04:10.A study has shown a successful bid would greatly benefit Birmingham.
:04:11. > :04:12.We have 95% of the facilities already in place,
:04:13. > :04:15.so we wouldn't have to spend huge sums of money
:04:16. > :04:17.on new facilities, so we can keep our costs down
:04:18. > :04:19.and, of course, avoid building new facilities
:04:20. > :04:26.that might become white elephants in the future.
:04:27. > :04:29.Just before we get the forecast, the story of the vicar
:04:30. > :04:33.When windows of All Saints Community Hall in Stoke on Trent were broken,
:04:34. > :04:34.it was an act of senseless vandalism.
:04:35. > :04:37.Fortunately, the vicar was there to clear up the damage,
:04:38. > :04:39.with a little help from Freddie Mercury.
:04:40. > :04:42.Our Staffordshire reporter Liz Copper explains.
:04:43. > :04:44.A boarded-up window at All Saints Community Hall in Hanley,
:04:45. > :04:49.the result of vandalism over the Easter weekend.
:04:50. > :04:50.The culprits might have broken the glass,
:04:51. > :04:53.but they could not break the spirit of the vicar.
:04:54. > :04:58.This was the Reverend Geoffrey's response.
:04:59. > :05:05.He posted this video on social media of him cleaning up.
:05:06. > :05:08.I think, in a way, to be quite frank, it was just fun.
:05:09. > :05:15.It was wonderful, authentic, real, bonafide Stokey fun.
:05:16. > :05:17.And this was the inspiration for that fun,
:05:18. > :05:25.Freddie Mercury's performance in one of Queen's most famous videos.
:05:26. > :05:27.All Saints' Hall is used by lots of community groups
:05:28. > :05:33.and it was parishioners who helped to make the vicar's video.
:05:34. > :05:36.Geoff is always up for a laugh, so that was it.
:05:37. > :05:38.My headband came off, went around his head
:05:39. > :05:43.and the music was played, and Geoff did his moves.
:05:44. > :05:46.He just danced and we were actually laughing so much that the camera
:05:47. > :05:48.was shaking and we had to stop, because we were laughing.
:05:49. > :05:50.Then, we just posted it onto social media
:05:51. > :05:55.and everybody was talking about it.
:05:56. > :05:58.Already, the Reverend Geoffrey's antics have helped to raise funds
:05:59. > :06:01.to repair the damage to this listed building.
:06:02. > :06:03.It's a place which has joined people together.
:06:04. > :06:06.It's been here for just over 100 years and we want to make sure,
:06:07. > :06:09.for the new and next-generation, that it is here for
:06:10. > :06:13.The video has been watched more than 20,000 times.
:06:14. > :06:17.This has become an uplifting tale of a vicar who took on the vandals
:06:18. > :06:34.I will leave you with the forecast from Rebecca.
:06:35. > :06:37.It has certainly been a cloudy day today.
:06:38. > :06:38.Our WeatherWatchers pictures clearly show that cloud.
:06:39. > :06:42.That theme is going to continue, but we should see a little bit more
:06:43. > :06:44.in the way of brightness as we head through this weekend.
:06:45. > :06:47.Tonight, we have a cold front which is working its way southwards.
:06:48. > :06:49.It is thickening up the cloud all the time
:06:50. > :06:52.and that cloud could bring us a few spots of drizzle.
:06:53. > :06:55.Once that clears, things are going to turn a touch cooler.
:06:56. > :06:57.We could see temperatures dipping down to around 7 Celsius across
:06:58. > :07:01.Further south, it will hold up a little better.
:07:02. > :07:02.We will see high pressure still in charge
:07:03. > :07:08.A bit more in the way of brightness, particularly in western parts.
:07:09. > :07:09.West is definitely best this weekend.
:07:10. > :07:12.Where we get that sunshine, we will still have a breeze,
:07:13. > :07:14.but temperatures should still do a little better.
:07:15. > :07:17.In fact, we could see them pushing up to around 15 Celsius.
:07:18. > :07:20.More sunshine to come as we head through into Sunday, as well.
:07:21. > :07:24.More information on all that in the national forecast next.
:07:25. > :07:27.I will leave you with the outlook over the next few days.
:07:28. > :07:37.marathon. Here is the outlook for the weather for the next few days
:07:38. > :07:42.and Helen Willetts has the National forecast.
:07:43. > :07:53.While unusual to see snow in May, it will be a shock to the system. We've
:07:54. > :07:56.seen some interesting contrast. 19 degrees cost is in Scotland in the
:07:57. > :08:03.sunshine today. In the sunshine only 11. The differences we are behind a
:08:04. > :08:07.cold weather front. Seeing a stepped down in temperatures. The cold air
:08:08. > :08:11.filtering sound so there will be a widespread ground frost across the
:08:12. > :08:18.country. The week weather front still with us so we could cheat
:08:19. > :08:21.patchy mist and fog. The best chance of seeing the meteor shower
:08:22. > :08:26.overnight will be in those clear skies further north. A better chance
:08:27. > :08:27.for south overnight. We start Saturday