Bear Grylls and Ant and Dec are the celebrities people would most like to see at their door to carry out essential repair work to their home, according to new research from Walsall-based home assistance provider HomeServe. The TV adventurer, currently starring in Channel 4’s Celebrity Island, and the Saturday Night Takeaway hosts pipped footballer David Beckham and scientist Brian Cox to top spot in the survey.

Independent charity Crimestoppers is today offering rewards of up to £6,000 for information on the whereabouts of three group members wanted in connection with burglary offences across the country. James Patrick Connors, 22, James Connors, 40, and John Connors, 25, are accused of being part of a national Organised Crime Group responsible for high value burglary offences and distraction burglaries throughout England and Wales targeting the elderly and the vulnerable.

The Consumer Council for Water (CCWater) has applauded the efforts of Severn Trent Water and South Staffordshire Water for substantially reducing the number of complaints they received from customers. The report by the consumer watchdog reveals that the two Midlands-based water suppliers saw among the largest falls in written complaints from customers in 2015/16.

In the last four years the number of children aged 10 and under needing one or more teeth removed has risen by 9.8%.  The attention surrounding the shocking rise in this figure has caused many parents to reassess their children’s ‘healthy’ diet and stressed the importance of getting them in to a good oral health routine from an early age, to help prevent decay. 

Vulnerable small island states and developing countries stand to gain access to billions of dollars of climate finance with the aid of a new Commonwealth initiative. The Commonwealth Climate Finance Access Hub, hosted by the Government of Mauritius, was officially opened today by Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland and Mauritius Prime Minister Anerood Jugnauth at a signing ceremony in New York. It will help governments dealing with the ravaging effects of climate change to draw down funding from a global fund target of $100 billion a year by 2020. 

An improvement scheme in Bearwood has brought big benefits to local residents with a major upgrade of public space and pathways and a much-improved bus station to create an impressive gateway into Sandwell. Sandwell Council has undertaken a major upgrade of the area – and along with Transport for West Midlands (TfWM) improved the bus station – to make it an attractive and eye-catching area on the boundary with Birmingham.