BBC Local Live: Merseyside

1. Lime Street station to reopen next Thursday after wall collapse...
2. ...Train with 150 passengers was 'seconds away' from crashing into rubble, says union
3. Hundreds of litter fines handed out on first day of crackdown
4. City's Commonwealth Games bid 'a gimmick', says Lib Dem leader
5. Updates on Friday 3 March

Our live coverage across the day

Live updates from Merseyside and west Cheshire have finished for the day, but we'll be back from 08:00 on Monday with the latest news, sport, weather and travel from across the region.  

We'll leave you with the heartwarming story of a message in a bottle thrown into the water by Jannine Atkinson, 31, from Huyton which has washed up on a beach in Langebaan South Africa.

She threw it into the Mersey in June 2016 after the death of her grandfather in the hope it might get to Singapore where he had always wanted to visit.

"Imagine her amazement when she received a text message on the 20/2/17 on her phone from a family in south Africa telling her that they had found the bottle on a beach in Langebaan South Africa," said her father Brian.

Janine Atkinson

Weather: Rain for most parts

BBC Weather

Turning wet for all areas through the afternoon with some heavy bursts and it will feel chilly under the rain.

Rain will spread to most parts by the afternoon and into the evening. Highs of

Rain will be fairly steady through the night, but will start to ease through the early hours.

Rubble clearing underway at Lime Street

Andy Gill

Reporter, BBC North West Tonight

Diggers are removing thousands of tonnes of from the top of the wall that collapsed on Tuesday preventing trains entering Lime Street station, Liverpool.

Network Rail have to make the wall safe before people can go onto the track to remove the debris.

Football: I'm not a clown says Liverpool boss Klopp

BBC Sport

Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp says he is "not a clown" and will not ignore the problems his side face, having won just once in the Premier League this year.

Getty Images

The Reds, who  lost 3-1 at champions Leicester  on Monday, can move above Arsenal into the top four if they beat them on Saturday, kick-off 17:30 GMT.

Klopp's side  won the reverse fixture 4-3  on the opening day of the season, which he says gives his side optimism.

Latest headlines in Merseyside and west Cheshire

• Liverpool Mayor Joe Anderson wants to make the city a diesel-free zone within five years.
• Network Rail says Lime Street station should now reopen next week after hundreds of tonnes of rubble fell onto the track
• Nine Merseyside men have been charged with serious drug offences after raids across the country

Breeder failed to take dog taken ill in labour to vet

A breeder, who failed to take a dog to the vets when she became ill in labour, has been given a two-year conditional discharge, the RSPCA said.

Mark Hardy, 55, of Sandymount Drive, Wallasey, admitted at an earlier hearing causing unnecessary suffering to Jenny, the black giant schnauzer.

Wirral magistrates also said he must pay £1,582 costs,

RSPCA inspector Anthony Joynes, who investigated the case, said: “Jenny suffered a lot of pain and discomfort in the last few days of her life, which could have been lessened if she had been taken to the vets promptly."

Work starts to repair collapsed railway wall

Repairs have started to a wall which collapsed leaving an estimated 200 tonnes of rubble on the line just outside Liverpool Lime Street station on Tuesday evening.

Fresh appeal over missing man

A fresh appeal has been made by Merseyside Police to find a 51 year-old Liverpool man who has been missing since 19 January.

Merseyside Police

Ian O’Brien was last seen in Walton wearing a dark waterproof jacket, a red or white T shirt, and black tracksuit pants. 

Det Insp Cath Haggerty said: “We are very concerned that Ian has not made contact with his family as this is very unusual for him. This has caused severe distress for his family who are worried for his safety." 

Bakery fined over 'mouse poo pasty'

A bakery that sold a pasty contaminated with mouse droppings has been fined more than £177,000 for food safety breaches.

Liverpool City Council

The case centred on two bakeries owned by Sayers Bakers Ltd in Liverpool in December 2015 and February 2016.

The company admitted 13 charges of breaching food safety law at the city's magistrates' court on Thursday.

A customer told environmental health staff said she vomited after biting into a pasty that had droppings on it.

Liverpool City Council

Bakery fined over 'mouse poo pasty'

A customer said she vomited after biting into a pasty that had mouse droppings on it.

Read more

Bakery fined over 'mouse poo pasty'

Mayor seeks diesel-free Liverpool

Liverpool Mayor Joe Anderson has said he wants to ban diesel cars from Liverpool City Centre by 2020.

Getty

The mayor announced plans at this morning's cabinet meeting to introduce low emission zones in the city to cut air pollution. 

Some of the ideas being considered include changing taxi licence agreements and increasing parking charges for diesel cars.

Football: Everton should follow Spurs way

Danny Murphy

MOTD Pundit

Everton boss Ronald Koeman says his side are still chasing a top-four finish as they prepare to face second-placed Tottenham on Sunday, but I would be amazed if the Toffees made the Champions League spots this seaso n.  

BBC

Latest headlines in Merseyside and west Cheshire

• Liverpool Mayor Joe Anderson wants to make the city a diesel-free zone within five years.
• Network Rail says Lime Street station should now reopen next week after hundreds of tonnes of rubble fell onto the track
• Nine Merseyside men have been charged with serious drug offences after raids across the country

Diesel vehicles could banned from Liverpool

Liverpool Echo

Liverpool Mayor Joe Anderson has said some diesel vehicles could be banned from Liverpool,

Sefton council tax to rise by just under 5%

At a budget meeting last night Sefton Council revealed they would be putting council tax up next year by 4.99%.

BBC

The local authority says it is to help them meet the spiralling cost of Adult Social Care in the Borough.

Councillors revealed they will have lost 51% of Government funding between 2010 and 2020.

It is equivalent to £722 from every household in Sefton.

Nine men charged after Merseyside drugs raids

Nine Merseyside men have been charged with serious drug offences after raids across the country targeting those suspected of living a luxury lifestyle paid for by crime. 

£250,000 worth of items including cars, jewellery and designer clothes were seized in the searches on Thursday morning. 

A total of £120,000 was also found at various addresses in Liverpool.

Latest headlines in Merseyside and west Cheshire

• Nine Merseyside men have been charged with serious drug offences after raids across the country
• Network Rail saysLime Street station should now reopen next week after hundreds of tonnes of rubble fell onto the track
• A new crackdown on litter in Liverpool sees more fines issued in the first day of operation than the whole of last year

Liverpool's £200m New Chinatown scheme set to be sold

Liverpool Echo

One of Liverpool’s flagship regeneration schemes could soon have a new owner - the £200m New Chinatown Great George Street scheme is set to include restaurants, shops and hundreds of homes.

North Point Global

Liverpool's bid to host Commonwealth Games is 'a gimmick', says city's Lib Dem leader

The leader of Liverpool's Liberal Democrats says the city's bid to host the Commonwealth Games is simply "a gimmick".

BBC

Councillor Richard Kemp supports the idea of a bid, but says until he sees "documentary evidence" that the plans are serious he believes "it's not going to happen".

In response Mayor Joe Anderson says "I will always put this city first, not play dirty party politics. We always put our decisions through the proper and transparent process at cabinet and with scrutiny".