BBC Local Live: Stoke & Staffordshire

Some light showers in Stoke & Staffordshire this evening but glorious sunshine tomorrow with highs of 20C (68F).

NHS patients in England are being sent home from hospital afraid and with little support, an ombudsman report reveals.

The independent arbitrator investigated 211 such complaints in a year.

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Among them is the case of a 80-year-old woman, repeatedly sent home in a confused state to an empty house, only to be readmitted to hospital when neighbours raised the alarm.

The NHS says the findings will be taken seriously and improvement is under way.

Paul Shaw, Staffordshire Fire's investigation lead, talks through how he works a crime scene.

Around 150 NHS workers are set to move into Stoke-on-Trent City Council's Smithfield site in Hanley. 

The workers will be from the clinical commissioning groups covering Stoke-on-Trent and North Staffordshire.

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The leader of the city council says their move will mean more than 1,000 people will soon be working from the city centre offices, which will help boost local trade.  

The plans were agreed in principle at a North Staffordshire Clinical Commissioning Group Governing Board meeting.

- NHS workers to move into Stoke-on-Trent City Council's Smithfield site

- Teenagers charged over two street attacks on girls

- Prisoner Charles Bronson sends boy with cerebral palsy artwork  

I posted earlier about three teenage girls being charged with attacking a 14-year-old girl on a Staffordshire street. 

Staffordshire Police now say only two girls, both 16, have been charged in relation to the attack in Whitehall Avenue, Kidsgrove on 27 March.

One of the 16-year-olds has been charged, alongside a 13-year-old girl, with a separate attack on a 15-year-old girl in Kidsgrove on 25 March.

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The three girls, all from Newcastle-under-Lyme have been released on bail and are due to appear at North Staffordshire Justice Centre in Stoke-on-Trent, on 6 June.

Recent polls suggest businesses are becoming more evenly split on whether to back so-called Brexit.

Few industries have more at stake than agriculture - but, while the NFU is officially backing the Remain campaign, farmers in the West Midlands are split on what's for the best.

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Ray Bower, who farms 500 acres near Penkridge in Staffordshire, tells me EU subsidies go down as well as up - so why not back the British government to make funding decisions.

That's in stark contrast to Adam Quinney in Warwickshire who believes Brexit could lead to a rise in food prices.

A Staffordshire mother says her 11-year-old son is writing to notorious prisoner Charles Bronson - to say thank you for a donation of artwork. 

Amy Baddeley from Newcastle-under-Lyme says the inmate's drawing of a bird has made £510 towards healthcare costs for Ben, who has cerebral palsy. 

A letter was attached with the artwork said: "Charles has been touched by your story, and like yourself he has never given up fighting for what he believes in."

Charles Bronson, 63, is serving a life sentence for robbery and kidnap. 

Now known as Charles Salvador, his artwork has previously sold for thousands, which he reportedly spent on sending his mother on holiday.

Three teenage girls have been charged with assault by beating after a 14-year-old girl was attacked in a street.

The girls, all from Newcastle-under-Lyme, were arrested following the incident in Whitehall Avenue, Kidsgrove, earlier this year.

The victim was beaten, stamped on and left covered in blood in the attack, which happened on 27 March.

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The teenagers have been released on bail, Staffordshire Police said, and are due to appear at North Staffordshire Justice Centre in Stoke-on-Trent, on 6 June.

Plans to invest in three new business developments could lead to thousands of new jobs, the county council says.

Proposals for Keele University's Science Park, Chatterley Valley near Newcastle-under-Lyme and the former Royal Ordnance factory site in Featherstone go before the authority's cabinet group next week.

Here are some of the stories making the headlines here in Stoke & Staffordshire this afternoon:

- Three teenagers are charged after an attack on a girl was filmed and posted on Facebook

- The first artists move into the revamped former Spode ceramic factory

- Council parking fines income rises by nearly 25%

A crash on the M6 at junction 11 for the A460 in Staffordshire is causing severe delays.

One northbound lane is closed which has caused queues to build up.

Too many British pupils are trying to learn in classrooms which are damaging their health and education, say architects.

And too many teachers are quitting, blaming stressful and overcrowded working conditions, says the Royal Institute of British Architects.

Jack HobhouseCopyright: Jack Hobhouse

It blames rising pupil numbers and government cuts to capital funding.

England's Department for Education says it will invest £23bn in school buildings over the next five years.

Back in March we told you the former Spode ceramics factory in Stoke was getting a multimillion-pound redevelopment to breathe new life into the area.

Apartment blocks and artist studios are being built at the Spode Works in Church Street.

I took a look inside as the first of the artists move into studios in the buildings which once housed thousands of potters.

The amount of money Stoke-on-Trent City Council receives from car park fines has gone up by nearly a quarter in the last 12 months. 

A total of 4,146 fines were given out in 2015-2016 to April - compared with 2,950 in the previous financial year.

In 2013-2014, fines totalled £117,400 while the latest figures reached £151,731.

This is an increase of £34,331 or 23%.

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Some drivers opt to pay within 14 days - reducing their fine by half.  

Ian Tamburello, manager of enforcement and operations at the council said: "We have over two million parking transactions in a year. The choices people make will define how much activity we get."

A weight loss trial run by a Midlands hospital trust has proved such a success it could now be rolled out across the NHS. 

Aimed at treating diabetics without the need for more drugs, specialists say they've been stunned by the results.

On average patients saw weight loss of about two stones.

I'll have more on Midlands Today from 13:30 on BBC One.

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Staffordshire Fire is tweeting about a day in the life of a fire control operator today.

A joint investigation involving police and the Care Quality Commission is being carried out into alleged neglect at Brookfield House Care Home in Nantwich.

In January, 83-year-old Roy Tomlinson's body was discovered yards from the home, six days after he was allowed to walk out. 

I understand a second incident has seen one person at the home sacked and two managers suspended. 

The Nantwich News earlier reported an elderly woman disappeared less than four hours after she arrived.

I've approached the owners of Brookfield Care Home and am awaiting a response.  

Among the top stories for Stoke and Staffordshire in the newsroom this afternoon are:

- Care home staff suspended over second patient disappearance

- Animal sanctuary forced to turn down rescues due to exotic pet "epidemic"

- Two-month major road closure for sewage works