Evening news round-up for the Black Country and north Worcestershire

A deal to develop the derelict Longlands School site in Stourbridge has fallen through, the town's MP has confirmed.

Birmingham Metropolitan College, which owns the old school and college site in Brook Street, had reportedly been working with a developer after inviting bids last autumn.

But Stourbridge MP Margot James, who has been keeping people living in the Old Quarter up to date on plans for the overgrown, vandal-hit site, confirmed Cameron Homes - which had been selected as the preferred developer - has pulled out of the deal after undertaking preparatory work and surveys.

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As family, friends and fans brace themselves for the funeral of Stourbridge musician John Cooke, it has been revealed the late Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham once gave him a surprise helping hand during a charity ‘drum-a-thon’.

The funeral of Mr Cooke, of The Broadway, Norton, who died suddenly on July 30, aged 67, is set for September 1 at 12.20pm at Stourbridge Crematorium, followed by a wake in the upper ballroom at the town's Talbot Hotel, in High Street, from 1.30pm.

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Faithful old retainers at a stately home are getting a lasting tribute - by having streets named after them at a new village housing development.

The likes of gamekeeper George Creed, "butler" "Jamie" James, housekeeper Jenny Price, chauffeur Billy Bennett and "eccentric man-about-the-house" Dicky Dyas are legends at Hagley Hall.

Some are long gone, while others still have links with the Palladian mansion and its noble owner, Viscount Cobham.

All will live on in a trip down Memory Lane in the form of road names at the nearby Cala Homes Wychbury Fields scheme, built on land previously owned by Hagley Hall estate on fields next to the junction of the A456 Kidderminster to Birmingham Road and the A491 motorway feeder road.

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A farm in Halesowen has been left counting the cost after ten calves were burned alive in a huge barn blaze in a suspected case of arson last night (Sunday).

Firefighters saved more than 100 cattle and 12 horses at the farm in Lutley Lane, Hayley Green.

The first calls to the emergency services were at 9.14pm and West Midlands Fire Service crews from Oldbury, Brierley Hill and Haden Cross tackled the blaze throughout the night.

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Police have launched an investigation after a man was seriously injured in Dudley last night (Sunday).

A 28-year-old man suffered head and facial injuries which left him in a serious but stable condition in hospital following the drama in the town’s High Street – which happened at around 8.15pm.

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A Stourport taxi driver has avoided jail after he ran over and killed a drink-affected man on a Kidderminster ring road.

Simon Robinson, aged 43, of Steatite Way, was handed an eight-month prison sentence, suspended for 12-months at Worcester Crown Court.

He was also disqualified for 12 months, ordered to do 250 hours of unpaid work and pay £530 costs.

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A Kidderminster fish frier has been named among the best in the country after winning a place in the finals of a national award.

James Houlston, of Our Plaice on Comberton Hill, has been named as one of the UK’s top 10 young fish friers by the 2017 National Fish and Chip Awards, organised by Seafish.

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Hospital waiting times at A&E sites in Worcestershire have missed Government targets yet again - with no progress made in an entire year.

Nearly two in 10 patients are not being seen, admitted, treated or discharged within four hours, with anxious health chiefs blaming it on "higher demand".

In June, 15 per cent of people visiting an A&E in the county were left for more than four hours, despite national guidelines demanding a target of dealing with 95 per cent of patients.

The figure, from Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, comes amid a growing crisis in which almost all of England's major hospitals are failing to hit the benchmark.

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Hospital bosses in Worcestershire claimed more than £28,000 in expenses in a single year despite a multi-million black hole in the trust's finances, provoking anger among NHS staff.

In total the 24 directors of Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs Redditch's Alexandra Hospital, claimed £28,425 in 2015/16 for expenses which included mileage, taxi fares and hotels.

The trust has a planned deficit for the end of 2016/17 of £34.6 million and a year-to-date deficit of £10 million while the amount claimed by the trust's executive and non-executive directors is the equivalent of a salary for a fully qualified nurse who start on salaries of £21,692, rising to £28,180.

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