BBC Local Live: Stoke & Staffordshire

A £170,000 skate park has been opened in Hednesford, Staffordshire. 

Cannock Chase District Council say the facility at Hednesford Park will cater for BMX riders, skaters, scooters and rollerbladers and is part of a £2.2m revamp of the park.

Cannock Chase District CouncilCopyright: Cannock Chase District Council

The newly created "West Midlands Combined Authority" has set out ambitious new targets for the future of the region. 

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Twelve local authorities have agreed to work together - including Cannock Chase District Council and Tamworth Borough Council.

I've been looking at what it means for the areas involved and what they're aiming to do - see my report on BBC One from 18:30 in Midlands Today.

Better news on the roads this evening as Highways England say the A5 is fully open again near Cannock.

Get the latest from BBC Travel.

She's bowled the maidens over ... 14-year-old Burton schoolgirl Lucy Yates has become the first junior to play for Derbyshire women's senior cricket team.  

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Abbotsholme High School pupil Lucy is a seam bowler and was also the first girl to play senior league cricket for her club in Rolleston.  

We can bring you more now on the story we brought you earlier about arrests after a reported road rage incident near Nantwich. 

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West Mercia Police said they'd arrested two teenagers after a man was threatened with what appeared to be a gun on the A525 on Wednesday night. 

Since then, the force says they've also arrested a man, 24, and a woman, 21, from Stoke-on-Trent on suspicion of possession of a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence.

There's been heavy rain this afternoon in Cannock and it's been causing localised flooding on some routes.

These are two pictures from BBC Weather Watchers in the town, Andyone and Roberts Flat.

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AndyoneCopyright: Andyone

Be careful on the roads in Cannock as the town is seeing some localised flooding.  

There's some relief for sports clubs around Stafford today. 

The National Trust has allowed cricket and football to be played on the Shugbrough Estate's grounds for another season.

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The trust had planned to return the pitches to parkland later this year after taking over the estate from Staffordshire County Council.

A huge crown of flowers is being constructed outside a Nantwich church to mark the Queen's 90th birthday.

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Artists from Stoke-on-Trent are creating the 20ft (6m) wide crown, mostly made from carnations, on the lawn outside St Mary's in the town centre. 

The display will also be used to mark the start of the church's flower festival, which begins on Thursday.

The plans for Cheshire to get an elected mayor have suffered their first setback. 

Ruling Labour councillors in Warrington voted against the proposals in a private meeting last night. 

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They asked for more detail about the plans and possible alternatives.

Some wanted the council to look at joining-up with a wider area, like the Liverpool city region.

The A5 has been closed this evening between junction 7 of the M6 Toll and the A4601 near Cannock because of flooding caused by heavy rain.

This evening's main headline for Staffordshire and Cheshire include:

- A Keele man has been jailed today after admitting handling thousands of pounds of counterfeit money

- A man and a woman from Stoke-on-Trent have been arrested after a man was threatened with what's thought to be a gun in a road rage incident, say police

- Officials have admitted they do not know when a Stoke-on-Trent school damaged by floods will re-open

Getting around the patch now with some of the pictures you've sent in to us.

Firstly this is from Robin Silvester in Wombourne, Staffordshire.

Robin SilvesterCopyright: Robin Silvester

While Kath Dawson's sent this of the overflow stream coming off the Trent and Mersey Canal in Stone, Staffordshire adding that "my dog beauty has photobombed".

To send your photo in of a location in Staffordshire or Cheshire you can email, tweet them to @BBCRadioStoke or put on Instagram with the tag #bbcstoke.

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Officials have admitted they do not know when a Stoke-on-Trent school damaged by floods will re-open.

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Clarice Cliff Primary School in Fenton had to close on Wednesday after heavy rain flooded the carpark and parts of the school building. 

The city council says the clean-up will continue into the weekend and parents will be updated after that.

A Keele man has been jailed today after admitting handling thousands of pounds of counterfeit money. 

Danny McCoy, 33, of Quarry Bank Road, had pleaded guilty to two counts of having custody or control of counterfeit currency notes with intent and one of possession of criminal property. 

He was jailed for three and a half years at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court. 

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Staffordshire Police say they found fake bank notes in his car in September and £2,100 more after searching his home, along with over £20,000 of real money. 

Officers say they started investigating him but, despite that, McCoy was found in February with another £8000 of counterfeit £20 notes in Cambridgeshire.  

Heavy rain in the south of Staffordshire is disrupting London Midland services between Birmingham New Street and Rugeley, the train operator says.

Get the latest from the BBC Travel website.

If you want to get a latest weather forecast over the weekend for your part of Staffordshire or Cheshire you can head to the BBC website.

There are more predictions about heavy rain this afternoon and evening as the Met Office has put out another yellow weather warning for the West Midlands and the North West.

They say slow-moving, heavy showers could become more widespread and could lead to localised surface water flooding.

The alert covers Staffordshire and Cheshire and runs until 21:00 tonight.

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