A sniffer dog helped trading standards officers in Sandwell to find more than 5,000 illegal cigarettes and a quantity of counterfeit hand-rolling tobacco on raids on two shops. Yoyo the spaniel helped to find the illegal merchandise in the raids on the shops in West Bromwich and Tipton. The tobacco products were sniffed out by Yoyo from various hiding places including some behind a false panel within a shop's tobacco display.

Wolverhampton residents have been warned about suspicious calls from phone scammers who are targeting the city. City of Wolverhampton Council’s Trading Standards team have issued an alert after receiving a number of complaints. The tricksters have been ringing households, some of whom have been elderly, pretending to be from the council.

It was fantastic to see so many local organisations and people from across the Black Country come together as one, to support the latest event celebrating Dudley’s unity. The Dudley ‘CommUNITY’ day of celebrations followed on the back of the hugely popular and national award-winning Funday Sunday event held earlier in the year.

A unique installation that brings the voices of children and young people to the heart of the United Nations General Assembly has been unveiled by UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador David Beckham, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake, and two young people from UNICEF Voices of Youth initiative. 

Today, local school children from Southwark and neighbouring boroughs will be setting up shop, trading their home grown fruit and veg in Borough Market. These very select young traders will join the ranks of London's renowned fruit and vegetable market to sell their seasonal fruit and vegetables, grown and nurtured from seed.

Balsall Heath residents are reminded that there will be a referendum on Thursday 8 October about the adoption of the Balsall Heath Neighbourhood Plan. The question asked will be – ‘Do you want Birmingham to use the Neighbourhood Plan for Balsall Heath to help it decide planning applications in the neighbourhood area?’ Residents are entitled to vote in the referendum on 8 October if they are both entitled to vote in local government elections in the area and their qualifying address is in the area.