BBC News England

Coventry, Warwickshire and Solihull are "pointing in the right direction" to be downgraded to tier two of coronavirus lockdown restrictions, West Midlands Mayor Andy Street has said.

The government is due to make a decision next week regarding any changes to the current tier system and Mr Street said at a regional briefing he "hopes the case can be made to move to tier two".

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In Birmingham and the Black Country it was "more difficult to judge," he said, and Birmingham City Council leader Ian Ward added that he expected the city would remain in tier three.

"I don't think it helps anyone to yo-yo between tier two and tier three," he said.

"In January, if we've driven the numbers down enough, I'd feel confident we could move to tier two and stay there until the spring."

An urgent warning for people to be look out for telephone scams has been issued after a North Yorkshire resident "lost thousands of pounds" to a caller claiming to be requesting payment for unpaid taxes.

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The most common telephone scams are individuals claiming to be from HMRC about an unpaid tax bill, police said.

The North Yorkshire force is also warning of scams where fraudsters claim to be from Amazon about a Prime subscription or scammers posing as the police.

Financial Abuse Safeguarding Officer Andy Fox said: "If you receive any calls like this, hang up immediately.

"Never transfer money on the request of a phone call from someone you do not know and if you are ever asked to lie to your bank or the police as to why you are transferring money, it is more than likely to be a scam."

Lincolnshire health bosses have criticised "negative feelings" towards students over coronavirus as mass testing yielded low numbers of cases.

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The University of Lincoln continues to have low infection rates, according to bosses, with the latest count seeing 28 coronavirus positive cases on campus out of about 15,000 students.

Professor Derek Ward, Lincolnshire County Council’s director of public health, said it was encouraging to see the lower numbers.

He acknowledged there had been blips - including a recent case where a student was fined £10,000 after hosting a party of up to 100 other students - but said those were rare.

“Earlier on there was quite a lot of negative feeling that students were contributing and driving the pandemic, and we saw a peak in numbers at the beginning of term," said Professor Ward.

“But the young people in the country who are in further or higher education, the vast majority have been exemplary in how they’ve approached this."

A spokesperson for the University of Lincoln could not provide details of how many tests had been carried out, but said testing at its peak had been fully booked and the majority of students had now gone home for Christmas.

"The students have been amazing, they have been brilliant. Our numbers are lower compared to Lincoln and Boston in general, and that would suggest the students on campus are not driving the R-rate higher," the spokesperson added.

A refuse worker and a motorcyclist have been taken to hospital after a crash in Leicester.

It happened at the junction of Wyngate Drive and Hinckley Road shortly after 10:30.

Leicestershire Police said the binman was taken to hospital for treatment for injuries which were not life-threatening.

The motorcyclist suffered injuries which were not life-threatening or life-changing.

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Covid testing for people who have no symptoms of the virus is now available in York.

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Booking for the free rapid symptom-free tests is open for individuals who come into contact with lots of other people as part of their work, City of York Council says.

The tests will initially be available to residents who work in the retail, hospitality or transport sector, including taxi drivers.

The authority says it will look at making the tests available to other groups in the coming months.

Tests can be booked online or by phoning 01904 551 559.

Chris Haward has been appointed as the new Chief Constable of Lincolnshire Police.

He is currently the East Midlands Deputy Chief Constable: