:00:09. > :00:10.Good evening. stories on the BBC News Channel.
:00:11. > :00:13.The Irish ambassador was one of the guests of honour
:00:14. > :00:15.at the St Patrick's day parade in Birmingham today.
:00:16. > :00:18.It was one of his last official functions before
:00:19. > :00:22.Thousands turned out for the event, which this year was entirely paid
:00:23. > :00:32.The sun was almost shinning, and the pipes were playing as 85,000
:00:33. > :00:34.people took to the streets of Birmingham - to celebrate
:00:35. > :00:42.Very proud to be Irish, very proud to be here.
:00:43. > :00:45.It is brilliant this year, there is great craic going on, the
:00:46. > :00:48.We are enjoying ourselves, aren't we girls?
:00:49. > :00:52.And this year they were joined by a special guest -
:00:53. > :00:56.He's taking up a new role in Washington later this year -
:00:57. > :00:59.but chose to spend his last St Patrick's weekend in the UK
:01:00. > :01:06.It's as good as anything I've seen around the world,
:01:07. > :01:10.I have been around the place, I have seen St Patrick's events all
:01:11. > :01:13.and I have enjoyed them all, this is
:01:14. > :01:16.a very enjoyable occasion and fair play to the Irish in
:01:17. > :01:18.Birmingham for putting on such a marvellous event.
:01:19. > :01:22.and thousands and thousands of people have turned out
:01:23. > :01:25.for what is one of the biggest St Patrick's Day Parades
:01:26. > :01:29.In fact, the organisers reckon it's the third largest
:01:30. > :01:31.after New York and Dublin - but having lost its funding
:01:32. > :01:36.from the city council this year's event had to pay it's own way.
:01:37. > :01:38.Really happy with the way it's gone,
:01:39. > :01:41.private sponsors, pubs, all on board.
:01:42. > :01:45.It's a big parade, more people here, running our own bars.
:01:46. > :01:47.This is exactly what we wanted and it has
:01:48. > :01:51.With bars and live music going on into the evening -
:01:52. > :01:54.Birmingham's surely in for good craic.
:01:55. > :02:01.Elizabeth Glinka, BBC Midlands Today in Digbeth.
:02:02. > :02:03.An investigation's under way into reports that shots were fired
:02:04. > :02:05.after problems at a birthday party in Smethwick.
:02:06. > :02:08.Police were called to the CAP centre in Windmill Lane at around
:02:09. > :02:11.A bullet and a shotgun casing were discovered -
:02:12. > :02:14.but no one is reported to have been injured.
:02:15. > :02:15.Officers are now looking through CCTV to find
:02:16. > :02:21.Tributes have been paid to a teenager who died
:02:22. > :02:24.after his bike was in collision with a car in Birmingham last month.
:02:25. > :02:26.15-year-old Sean Purchase was injured in the crash
:02:27. > :02:30.on Bandywood Road in Great Barr in February but died last week.
:02:31. > :02:33.His family said he was the "strongest person
:02:34. > :02:40.Campaigners are running out of time to raise almost half a million
:02:41. > :02:42.pounds to keep one of the first vases Josiah Wedgwood
:02:43. > :02:46.ever made at his factory in Etruria, in the Midlands.
:02:47. > :02:48.The piece from 1769 was sold at Christies to a foreign buyer
:02:49. > :02:52.and an export ban runs out on Tuesday.
:02:53. > :02:55.So far ?79,000 has been pledged by the public to try
:02:56. > :03:04.Gordon Banks was just one of the famous Stoke City players
:03:05. > :03:06.helping recreate the team's famous league Cup victory
:03:07. > :03:11.Most of the original team were there as part of a vintage
:03:12. > :03:14.cavalcade which toured the area, including the winning goal-scorer
:03:15. > :03:16.George Eastham who had flown in from South Africa
:03:17. > :03:21.And hundreds of fans turned out to to remember the club's famous 2-1
:03:22. > :03:29.I get a chance now and again to come from South Africa to see
:03:30. > :03:31.the players, but this is a special occasion.
:03:32. > :03:34.People turning out to congratulate us, it's lovely.
:03:35. > :03:44.Finally Archaelogists at Gloucester Cathedral have
:03:45. > :03:47.uncovered what they believe could be a strap for a person's false leg,
:03:48. > :03:52.The metal pieces were found in the old lay cemetery.
:03:53. > :03:55.Experts say traces of bone and wood, found with the band,
:03:56. > :03:58.suggest it supported an artificial limb.
:03:59. > :04:04.It's hoped the pieces will eventually be put on show.
:04:05. > :04:11.It'd probably better be with the weather!
:04:12. > :04:13.Here's Alex Hamilton with all the details.
:04:14. > :04:16.We had rather a mixed bag of weather across
:04:17. > :04:19.We have high pressure starting to build in
:04:20. > :04:23.over the next couple of days so expect conditions to be more
:04:24. > :04:26.It is set to be a mild night tonight, variable amounts of
:04:27. > :04:29.cloud through to the early hours with lows of seven Celsius.
:04:30. > :04:31.Tomorrow morning, we should start on a bright and sunny note.
:04:32. > :04:33.That cloud builds in from the north-west but
:04:34. > :04:37.when we get the sunny spells, we expect temperatures of around 15
:04:38. > :04:46.Celsius so it will feel springlike as we start the new working week.
:04:47. > :04:49.Midlands Today will be back at Breakfast tomorrow as usual,
:04:50. > :05:06.But from all of us here, have a good night.
:05:07. > :05:13.Good evening. For many places it was a fairly cloudy day on suspend but
:05:14. > :05:16.there was sunshine for western areas during the afternoon, and here are
:05:17. > :05:22.the clear skies at sunset in Northern Ireland. Thanks to weather
:05:23. > :05:25.watcher Robin for this picture, those clear skies have been making
:05:26. > :05:26.their