0:00:00 > 0:00:07Here on BBC One, it's time for the news where you are.
0:00:07 > 0:00:09Good evening. for the news where you are.
0:00:09 > 0:00:11It's a growing problem across the region and costs millions
0:00:11 > 0:00:12of pounds to clear up.
0:00:12 > 0:00:15Local authorites are facing a constant battle against those
0:00:15 > 0:00:17who illegally dump rubbish.
0:00:17 > 0:00:19Last year there were more than 67,000 cases of fly-tipping
0:00:19 > 0:00:22across the West Midlands - costing the taxpayer
0:00:22 > 0:00:27a staggering £4.2 million.
0:00:27 > 0:00:29In Stoke on Trent, the number of cases has steadily risen over
0:00:30 > 0:00:31the past three years.
0:00:31 > 0:00:33The local authority insists it is tackling the issue,
0:00:33 > 0:00:35taking action against those who dump waste.
0:00:35 > 0:00:38But last year just they had just 26 successful prosecutions.
0:00:38 > 0:00:43Here's our Staffordshire reporter, Liz Copper.
0:00:43 > 0:00:47Unsightly, unpleasant and now under investigation.
0:00:47 > 0:00:50This rubbish was reported overnight.
0:00:50 > 0:00:54Tim and Ashton from Stoke-on-Trent's cleaning team are on their way.
0:00:54 > 0:01:00The team's led by Dominic, and what they find isn't unusual.
0:01:00 > 0:01:04This appears to be a builder's-type place so you've got your wood,
0:01:04 > 0:01:07your plastic, your spilt paint, and generally waste
0:01:07 > 0:01:09in the wrong place.
0:01:09 > 0:01:12And this is the type of thing that blights the community.
0:01:12 > 0:01:14The council's zero tolerance policy has the support
0:01:14 > 0:01:16of many families here.
0:01:16 > 0:01:20Prosecute them, fine them. Whatever it is that you want to do.
0:01:20 > 0:01:25Teach them a lesson.
0:01:25 > 0:01:26It's the only way they'll learn.
0:01:26 > 0:01:29If you don't catch them, they keep on doing it.
0:01:29 > 0:01:32If you catch them, prosecute them, they won't do it again.
0:01:32 > 0:01:34Because it's going to hit them in the pocket.
0:01:34 > 0:01:36There are five teams working five days a week,
0:01:36 > 0:01:37clearing up after fly-tippers.
0:01:37 > 0:01:40Next stop is a call to waste that's been dumped
0:01:40 > 0:01:41near an industrial estate.
0:01:41 > 0:01:43Across the city, there were 26 prosecutions last year,
0:01:43 > 0:01:48but that is not the whole story.
0:01:48 > 0:01:50We now look at a proactive and reactive service,
0:01:50 > 0:01:52so we're not waiting for the residents to come forward
0:01:52 > 0:01:57and complain about fly-tipping - we're actually going out and dealing
0:01:57 > 0:02:02with environmental issues that officers see for themselves.
0:02:02 > 0:02:05To help bring more cases to court, the team's joined by Zoe,
0:02:05 > 0:02:07who collects evidence.
0:02:07 > 0:02:11It's really getting stuck in, and if there's bin bags,
0:02:11 > 0:02:13if there's cardboard, furniture and so on,
0:02:13 > 0:02:15you're lifting up the cushions on sofas...
0:02:15 > 0:02:20You're digging through the bags to see what may be in there that
0:02:20 > 0:02:22could link to a potential address.
0:02:22 > 0:02:23And after those investigations, a call.
0:02:23 > 0:02:25And questions.
0:02:25 > 0:02:27There's some rubbish in that alleyway.
0:02:27 > 0:02:30Do you know anything about that?
0:02:30 > 0:02:32Enquiries will continue at this address.
0:02:32 > 0:02:35Clearing up this mess costs councils money they'd rather
0:02:35 > 0:02:38spend on other services.
0:02:38 > 0:02:42It's a constant battle.
0:02:42 > 0:02:44But the team fighting the fly-tippers -
0:02:44 > 0:02:45and transforming this, into this - are making
0:02:45 > 0:02:52a real difference.
0:02:52 > 0:02:55A jury's heard how a taxi driver killed his two young children
0:02:55 > 0:02:59by smothering them before setting fire to the family home
0:02:59 > 0:03:01as their mother slept upstairs.
0:03:01 > 0:03:03Endris Mohammed denies the murders of both children and the attempted
0:03:03 > 0:03:06murder of their mother at their home in Birmingham last October -
0:03:06 > 0:03:10but admits being responsible for the deaths.
0:03:10 > 0:03:14Giles Latcham reports.
0:03:14 > 0:03:16Saros, aged eight, and six year-old Leanor, killed by their father
0:03:16 > 0:03:19in October last year at the family home in Hamstead, north Birmingham.
0:03:19 > 0:03:22It was the half term school holiday.
0:03:22 > 0:03:25They'd been allowed, as a treat, to sleep downstairs in the lounge.
0:03:25 > 0:03:29Endris Mohammed sat in the dock, his
0:03:29 > 0:03:32head bandaged his face scarred, as the jury heard that he'd
0:03:32 > 0:03:34smothered his children with a petrol-soaked rag.
0:03:34 > 0:03:38As their mother slept upstairs, he started a fire in the hall.
0:03:38 > 0:03:41Later, in a lane in north Staffordshire,
0:03:41 > 0:03:46fire englufed his car and he suffered severe burns.
0:03:46 > 0:03:51The judge Andrew Gilbart told the jury that who killed
0:03:51 > 0:03:52the children wasn't in doubt.
0:03:52 > 0:03:54"The defendant accepts causing their deaths -
0:03:54 > 0:03:57this is not a case where he is saying that he denies it.
0:03:57 > 0:03:59"The issue is whether he was suffering from a mental
0:03:59 > 0:04:01disorder and, if so, whether he can establish
0:04:01 > 0:04:04a defence of what is called diminished responsibility.
0:04:04 > 0:04:07Opening the case for the prosecution, Jonas Hankin QC,
0:04:07 > 0:04:09said the prosecution rejected the assertion that Mr Mohammed
0:04:09 > 0:04:12was suffering from a "depressive disorder" at the time
0:04:12 > 0:04:15of the killings which impaired his ability to make rational
0:04:15 > 0:04:18judgements.?
0:04:18 > 0:04:28His wife survived the fire without serious injury.
0:05:00 > 0:05:03A senior West Midlands Police officer has been suspended
0:05:03 > 0:05:05on suspicion of an offence under the Official Secrets Act.
0:05:05 > 0:05:07Assistant Chief Constable Marcus Beale faces allegations
0:05:07 > 0:05:09relating to a failure to safeguard sensitive documents,
0:05:09 > 0:05:13which were stolen from an unmarked police car in May.
0:05:13 > 0:05:18He'll appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court next month.
0:05:18 > 0:05:23A teenager from Wolverhampton has been convicted of trying
0:05:23 > 0:05:26to import explosives from the dark web with intent to endanger life.
0:05:26 > 0:05:2719-year-old Gurtej Singh Randhawa tried
0:05:27 > 0:05:28to buy a remote-detonated explosive device online.
0:05:28 > 0:05:32But he was arrested in May after the National Crime Agency
0:05:32 > 0:05:38replaced the package with a dummy device before it was delivered.
0:05:38 > 0:05:40Tributes have been paid to a man who died
0:05:40 > 0:05:44after a firework was set off inside his home in Birmingham.
0:05:44 > 0:05:47Former Land Rover worker Anthony Nicholls, who was 56,
0:05:47 > 0:05:50died yesterday in hospital after the fire at his home in Tile Cross.
0:05:50 > 0:05:53His partner, a 50-year-old woman, is still in hospital
0:05:53 > 0:05:57with fractures to her legs.
0:05:57 > 0:05:59Mr Nicholls daughter Fiona said her father
0:05:59 > 0:06:01was a "fun-loving, funny man".
0:06:01 > 0:06:06Detectives are continuing to examine CCTV footage.
0:06:06 > 0:06:08It's been revealed the Birmingham bin strike over
0:06:08 > 0:06:11the summer has cost the taxpayer more than £6 million.
0:06:11 > 0:06:14Bin workers first walked out on 30th June in a row over
0:06:14 > 0:06:17jobs losses and changes to working patterns.
0:06:17 > 0:06:2082 days later, the strike was suspended after the High Court
0:06:20 > 0:06:22granted an interim injunction against the City Council's attempt
0:06:22 > 0:06:25to make workers redundant.
0:06:25 > 0:06:28A trial is expected to take place later this month to determine
0:06:28 > 0:06:34if the authority was unlawful in issuing redundancy notices.
0:06:34 > 0:06:36We're talking to the trade unions now within Acas,
0:06:36 > 0:06:39I'm quite clear that we've got to resolve this dispute.
0:06:39 > 0:06:42No-one wants to see black bags piling up on the street again
0:06:42 > 0:06:45like they were in the summer, so we've got to reach an agreement
0:06:45 > 0:06:47with the unions that they can sell to their members,
0:06:47 > 0:06:52in order to resolve the dispute and then move on from there.
0:06:52 > 0:06:54Hundreds of jobs are to be created at online estate
0:06:54 > 0:06:55agent Purple Bricks.
0:06:55 > 0:06:58The Solihull based company is expanding rapidly,
0:06:58 > 0:07:00both here and abroad.
0:07:00 > 0:07:03The growth of online agents has also meant big changes in the way
0:07:03 > 0:07:05traditional estate agents operate.
0:07:05 > 0:07:08Our business correspondent, Peter Plisner, explores
0:07:08 > 0:07:11the attraction of selling your house online.
0:07:11 > 0:07:15In the past, to buy a house, you chose a street, looked for sale
0:07:15 > 0:07:17boards and then went to a high street agent - job done.
0:07:17 > 0:07:22But since the advent of property websites like Rightmove buying
0:07:22 > 0:07:28a selling a house has gone online too.
0:07:28 > 0:07:29Karen and Robert Guttridge recently sold their house
0:07:29 > 0:07:32in Shirley with Purple Bricks.
0:07:32 > 0:07:39I think it was a bit of a leap of faith, because online, you don't
0:07:39 > 0:07:44know how it is going to work out.
0:07:44 > 0:07:48The misery you feel when you spend thousands on commission...
0:07:48 > 0:07:51TV adverts like this have help increase
0:07:51 > 0:07:54turnover at Purpe Bricks - so much so that it's now out
0:07:54 > 0:07:57grown its call centres in Solihull.
0:07:57 > 0:08:00Here they take more than 3,000 calls every day.
0:08:00 > 0:08:06Co-founder Kenny Bruce showed me round
0:08:06 > 0:08:08the companies new offices.
0:08:08 > 0:08:17We are taking more space, creating more jobs.
0:08:17 > 0:08:18There are various pros and cons of online
0:08:19 > 0:08:20vs high street agents.
0:08:20 > 0:08:23If you go online, you'll pay a fixed fee regardless
0:08:23 > 0:08:25of whether your house is sold.
0:08:25 > 0:08:28On the high street, it's still "no sale, no fee".
0:08:28 > 0:08:31Once the house is sold, there's no commission to pay if you've
0:08:31 > 0:08:34used an online agent, but on average you'll pay
0:08:34 > 0:08:38around 1% of the sale price on the high street.
0:08:38 > 0:08:41And with most online agents you'll pay extra for them to show potential
0:08:41 > 0:08:43buyers around your house, but viewings are free
0:08:43 > 0:08:44with traditional agents.
0:08:44 > 0:08:48One recent prediction suggested that one in five traditional agents
0:08:48 > 0:08:57are at risk of going out of business.
0:09:00 > 0:09:05Some like this Solihull agent are now offering the same
0:09:05 > 0:09:12deal as Purple Bricks.
0:09:12 > 0:09:16We could have sat back and said, it's all going to go away,
0:09:16 > 0:09:19people won't stand for this, but in this day and age, when people
0:09:19 > 0:09:22are walking around down the high street with a screen in front
0:09:22 > 0:09:28of their face, they want easy, cheap and value for money.
0:09:28 > 0:09:31Whatever happens in the coming years, it's clear that, in the long
0:09:31 > 0:09:33run, the arrival of the online agents has made selling houses
0:09:33 > 0:09:36easier and cheaper.
0:09:36 > 0:09:40Peter Plisner, BBC Midlands Today in Solihull.
0:09:41 > 0:09:42That's all from the late team.
0:09:42 > 0:09:45Midlands Today will be back tomorrow morning just before 6:30.
0:09:45 > 0:09:47I'll leave you with the weather forecast from Shefali.
0:09:47 > 0:09:51Goodnight.
0:09:51 > 0:09:53Another crisp carpet of frost across the countryside
0:09:53 > 0:09:55this morning.
0:09:55 > 0:09:58But it was accompanied by some very pleasant spells of sunshine, in true
0:09:58 > 0:10:00November style.
0:10:00 > 0:10:05But you'll see changes over the coming days,
0:10:05 > 0:10:06mainly in temperatures -
0:10:06 > 0:10:09cold today and then milder tomorrow before turning chilly again
0:10:09 > 0:10:12by the weekend.
0:10:12 > 0:10:17And that's being triggered by a series
0:10:17 > 0:10:18of fronts passing -
0:10:18 > 0:10:21warm, followed by cold, followed by warm and cold, and one
0:10:21 > 0:10:25of these will produce quite heavy rain by Friday night,
0:10:25 > 0:10:28but the weekend's looking largely dry but cold
0:10:28 > 0:10:33in a northwesterly wind.
0:10:33 > 0:10:36As for tonight - the front that's with us is just
0:10:36 > 0:10:40a weak one, and so a lot of cloud along it but not much rain -
0:10:40 > 0:10:44just splashes here and there and cold, but only cold enough
0:10:44 > 0:10:46perhaps rurally for a touch of frost, but, generally speaking,
0:10:47 > 0:10:48there won't be.
0:10:48 > 0:10:57But it'll clear away quite quickly tomorrow -
0:10:57 > 0:11:00and mild with temperatures rising to 14 Celsius in light
0:11:00 > 0:11:03to moderate westerly winds.