BBC News Birmingham & Black Country

The redevelopment of Perry Barr railway station is going to cost nearly £10m more than originally planned, the leader of Birmingham City Council has said.

But Ian Ward told a meeting of the West Midlands Combined Authority it was important the work goes ahead, because it will be used by visitors to the 2022 Commonwealth Games in the city.

West Midlands Combined AuthorityCopyright: West Midlands Combined Authority

The original budget for the scheme was just over £21m and that has risen to £30.98m.

Council leaders from across the West Midlands plan to meet to look at how this will be funded.

Two rabbits were found in a cardboard box, near Birmingham's Bartley Reservoir, in freezing temperatures.

They were spotted by a local couple out on their daily walk, but if one of them hadn't found its way out of the box they might not have been noticed at all, the RSPCA said.

RSPCACopyright: RSPCA

The two male rabbits were microchipped, but the chips held no information and RSPCA inspector Nichola Geraghty said: "These rabbits are domesticated and would never have survived on their own.”

Improvement work to Wolverhampton Art Gallery, halted last March, is due to resume in June.

Wolverhampton City CouncilCopyright: Wolverhampton City Council

The work, which is phase two of an improvement project, is costing £1,526,000, with an additional cost of £450,000 coming from an Arts Council England.

The cafe will be moved from the top floor to a larger ground floor location, and the entrance will be made more accessible.

GoogleCopyright: Google

More than half of Stourbridge's care homes, which responded to questions, have now either received, or are about to receive the coronavirus vaccination, the town's MP has said.

The Department of Health and Social Care is aiming for all care home residents to have been offered vaccines by the end of January.

Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images

Conservative MP Suzanne Webb said her team called all 17 homes in her constituency and found nine had either administered the jab or were expecting to in the coming days.

Four homes didn't respond and only one said it has not received any contact from a surgery or the local clinical commissioning group.

The health secretary has again been asked for details of who is getting vaccinated in Birmingham and which organisations are carrying them out.

The request comes in a letter to Matt Hancock signed by Ian Ward, the leader of the city council, as well as Labour's candidate for the West Midlands Mayor elections Liam Byrne, and Conservative MP for Sutton Coldfield, Andrew Mitchell.

Ian WardCopyright: Ian Ward

The three complained last week the city was running low on vaccine stocks, and while supply was quickly replenished, they said it was "regrettable" other questions still haven't been answered.

BBC Radio Wolverhampton has been on-air since 06:00 and now Letitia George (pictured below) has taken from Elise Evans as presenter.

The station is available online and on DAB every weekday between 06:00 and 14:00 until March.

BBCCopyright: BBC

The BBC has been considering the idea of extra local radio services for over a decade now but, with the pandemic, it was decided now is the time to launch.

Like Sunderland, which is also about to get a new BBC service, Wolverhampton has seen significant increases in coronavirus case numbers in the last couple of months.

A Wolverhampton family are unable to return home due to a ban on people travelling from South America.

The UK's new travel ban came into force at 04:00 GMT on Friday.

Jon Dent said he and his wife Carla travelled to the Brazilian city of Goiania in October to introduce their baby daughter to Carla's family.

Jon DentCopyright: Jon Dent

Mr Dent said: ""I hope we can get home and not be stranded out here for months. We've got to be patient but at the same time flexible."

Here are three stories from the Express and Star this morning:

• Man pleads guilty to Dudley alleyway attack
• Murder trial jury retires to consider verdict
• Date set for Power Station chimney demolition

The BBC's new local radio service for Wolverhampton launches today.

It's one of two new stations aimed at bringing people local news, sport, travel and weather during the pandemic.

BBCCopyright: BBC

Elise Evans (pictured above) got things going earlier. She'll be familiar to audiences in the West Midlands, having previously presented on BBC Radio WM.

The BBC's head of Local Radio, Chris Burns, said listeners "will get a better sense of what is happening in their area and will feel more in touch with their community even as they stay at home”.

The station can be found online or on DAB radio.

The BBC's new radio service for Wolverhampton goes on air at 06:00 tomorrow and Elise Evans will be its first presenter.

She'll be familiar to listeners to BBC WM and said she was "thrilled to be given the opportunity to wake up my home city every morning".

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Elise will be followed by Letitia George, who is currently a presenter on BBC CWR.

She said: "With such a fantastic local community who are passionate about their city, who wouldn't jump at the chance to be involved. I can't wait to take you through your weekday mornings and share your incredible stories.”

Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery has announced it's going to remain closed for the rest of the year, to allow "essential electrical work" to be carried out.

The whole of the Council House complex is being upgraded.

Birmingham Museum and Art GalleryCopyright: Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery

The museum and art gallery aims to reopen in time for the Commonwealth Games in 2022 and said while the electrical work won't start until June, 2,150 items from the collection will have to be moved to safety first.

A further 33,000 items will be moved while the work is going on.

The city council, which owns the building, said the electrical work was "needed to future-proof the building making it safe for staff and visitors".