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Some residents of a group of villages in Telford have vowed to fight boundary reorganisation plans which could mean they pay more in council tax.

Dawley Hamlets brings together a number of villages, whose residents pay less council tax than residents in neighbouring areas.

However, a proposal has been made to abolish Dawley Hamlets Parish Council and divide villages into neighbouring towns and parishes in time for the 2027 local elections.

Telford and Wrekin Council said its boundary review was in the consultation stage, meaning residents could still influence the final outcome, and that decisions on future tax levels would be for newly formed councils.

"Splitting us up will hit people in their pockets," said Cllr Bob Wennington, chairman of Dawley Hamlets Parish Council.

"We're individual communities but we gel together and residents are happy with what we do for them.

"All of Little Dawley and Aqueduct could be part of Great Dawley Town Council, but we feel like we don't have much in common with the town, although we do rely on them for some services," he added.

The fee added on to council tax bills for 2025/26 by Dawley Hamlets Parish Council, known as the precept, is around £29 for a Band D property.

It is spent on local services, such as litter picking and the management of two nature reserves, and also organising annual events like remembrance services and summer parties.

However in the Great Dawley area to the north, residents paid £317 in town council precept, which contributes towards the running of the town hall, library, weekly market and Christmas lights switch on, to name a few of the services it provides.

The boundary change would increase the council tax of more than 6,300 voters.

'We could lose our identity'

The proposals also include moving the Small Hill area of Dawley Hamlets into Lawley & Overdale Parish Council, and Horsehay and Doseley into The Gorge Parish Council.

Lawley and Overdale Parish Council's precept fee was £108 this financial year, while The Gorge Parish Council added about £64.

"My fear is that we'll become part of the Ironbridge Gorge and lose some of our identity," said Angela Porteous from Horsehay in Dawley Hamlets.

"Ironbridge is a World Heritage Site, which is fantastic, but how much focus will be put on an area like Horsehay?"

Telford and Wrekin Council did not answer the BBC's specific questions on why it is proposing to abolish Dawley Hamlets Parish Council.

However, in a statement, it said its draft proposals were aimed at better reflecting community identities, addressing electoral imbalances, and ensuring effective local representation.

"The final outcomes of the Community Governance Review may yet change, depending on the feedback we receive," said Cllr Giles Luter, Chair of Telford and Wrekin Council's Boundary Review Committee.

"We would remind residents of Dawley Hamlets, and across the Borough, to make the most of our drop-in information sessions and complete the online survey," he added.

It challenged claims that council tax would necessarily rise, saying: "It would be the responsibility of any new parish council to set their council tax precept, so speculating around levels of precept in parish councils which do not yet exist is unhelpful and potentially misleading."

A woman who looks after both her father and son says she believes she is not "valued as a carer".

Speaking during Carers Week, Becky Pain-Tolin, from Gloucestershire, said the care system was "diabolical" and "incredibly underfunded".

Ms Pain-Tolin, whose 11-year-old son has complex disabilities and whose father has advanced vascular dementia said: "Unpaid carers deserve more, my father deserves more and my son deserves more."

A spokesperson for The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) said they understood "the huge difference carers make, as well as the struggles so many face".

They said the government increased the Carer's Allowance earnings threshold by £45 a week to £196, which would benefit more than 60,000 carers by 2029/30.

Ms Pain-Tolin's son needs two-to-one care at all times and three-to-one care when in the community.

Seven more people have appeared in court charged over an acid attack which left a man seriously injured.

The victim was at home with his daughter in Lipson Road on 21 February, Plymouth Magistrates Court heard.

Ria Park, prosecuting, said two men broke in and threw acid at him, "causing significant injuries to him".

The defendants, six men from London and a woman from Plymouth, were all charged with conspiracy to murder and conspiracy to kidnap.

Ramarnee Bakas, 22, of Bethune Road, London, Abdulrasheed Adedoja, 22, of North Circular, London, Arrone Mukuna, 24, of Werrington Street, London, Jean Mukuna, 23, of Werrington Street, London, Brian Kalemba, 22, of Estbury Square, London, Jenna O'Grady, 38, Ernesettle Green, Plymouth, and Isanah Sungum, 22, of Stirling Way, Edmonton, London, were charged with conspiracy to murder and conspiracy to kidnap.

Mr Bakas, Arrone Mukuna, Jean Makuna and Mr Adedoja were also charged with laundering the proceeds of crime.

The defendants spoke only to confirm their names, addresses and dates of birth and were all remanded in custody to appear at Plymouth Crown Court on 12 May.

Israel Augustus, 25, of Pulford Road, north London, who appeared at Plymouth Magistrates' Court earlier, was charged with applying a corrosive fluid with intent to burn, maim, disfigure or do grievous bodily harm.

Mr Augustus, who was also charged with aggravated burglary, possession of an offensive weapon, and drug offences, was due to appear before Plymouth Crown Court on 16 June.

Measures to protect swans in a town centre after two were attacked last year have been reintroduced.

Fencing and CCTV were put in place in April 2024 following a number of incidents where bottles were thrown at two birds.

The safety measures have again been put in by Cleethorpes Wildlife Rescue (CWR) to protect two nesting birds on the River Freshney in Grimsby, North East Lincolnshire.

The swans, in the same spot as last year, have laid two eggs and CWR is monitoring the video footage to ensure their safety.

CWR volunteers were granted a licence by North East Lincolnshire Council to put in the fencing and CCTV.

The rescue group said the safety measures were considered a success last year, with disturbance of the nest dropping from an average of four a day to fewer than four over the entire incubation period.

They have asked people not to feed the swans on or near the nest as it attracts predators, which puts the birds at risk.

Lincolnshire on BBC Sounds latest episode of Look North here.

Several hospitals are set to get upgrades after Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust secured government funding.

Work will include improving fire safety systems, water infrastructure and electrical and energy systems at Rampton Hospital, The Wells Road Centre, Wathwood Hospital, Thorneywood Mount and Arnold Lodge Hospital.

The improvements at the sites, which offer mental health and community services across the Midlands and South Yorkshire, are due to start in the summer with the aim of completing next spring.

The trust, which runs the hospitals, said the funding would support urgent infrastructure projects and create a better environment for patients.

The £2,595,000 grant is part of a national project to improve NHS buildings and infrastructure in England.

At Rampton High Secure Hospital and several others, it is hoped the money will allow a full upgrade of fire safety systems – including alarms, fire compartmentation and suppression technology.

The Wells Road Centre in Mapperley, Nottingham, will benefit from the replacement of ageing machinery.

While at Arnold Lodge, in Leicester, a specialist secure unit, the money will deliver electrical and energy system improvements.

The trust said planning work was under way to ensure the disruption was minimal.

Chief executive at the trust Ifti Majid said the funding was "fantastic news", adding: "It allows us to fast-track improvements that make our hospitals safer, greener and more welcoming places to receive care and to work."

Alison Wyld, executive director of finance and estates, added: "By tackling our highest-risk infrastructure now, we're not only reducing future maintenance costs but also supporting the trust's net zero ambitions."

A New York judge has dismissed Justin Baldoni's $400m (£295m) defamation lawsuit against his former co-star Blake Lively.

The pair, who both starred in the 2024 film It Ends with Us, have been locked in a legal battle for several months, with a trial set for next year.

Judge Lewis Liman on Monday dismissed Baldoni's countersuit, which alleged extortion, defamation and other allegations.

Baldoni brought the suit after Lively filed a legal complaint last year against her former co-star, accusing him of sexual harassment and starting a smear campaign against her.

Lively filed a suit against Baldoni's Wayfarer Studios in December 2024, alleging she was sexually harassed on set and that Baldoni retaliated against her for bringing those complaints, among other allegations.

Lively also shared details of the allegations in a New York Times article published before her lawsuit.

Baldoni then brought defamation suits against Lively, her husband Ryan Reynolds, their publicist, claiming they were aiming to ruin his career and reputation with the allegations, as well as the New York Times.

Baldoni's lawsuit centred on two claims: that Lively "stole the film" from him and his company Wayfarer by threatening not to promote it, and that she and others promoted a false narrative that Baldoni sexually assaulted her and launched a smear campaign against her, Judge Liman explained in his opinion.

But Baldoni and his production company "have not adequately alleged that Lively's threats were wrongful extortion rather than legally permissible hard bargaining or renegotiation of working conditions", he wrote.

Additionally, the judge wrote, Baldoni and his company had not proved defamation because the "Wayfarer Parties have not alleged that Lively is responsible for any statements other than the statements" in her lawsuit, which are privileged.

The judge also determined that evidence did not show that the New York Times "acted with actual malice" in publishing their story, dismissing that $250m suit as well.

"The alleged facts indicate that the Times reviewed the available evidence and reported, perhaps in a dramatized manner, what it believed to have happened," he wrote. "The Times had no obvious motive to favor Lively's version of events."

In a statement shared with US media, Lively's lawyers called the opinion "a total victory and a complete vindication for Blake Lively, along with those that Justin Baldoni and the Wayfarer Parties dragged into their retaliatory lawsuit, including Ryan Reynolds, Leslie Sloane and The New York Times".

In a post on her Instagram, Lively said that "Like so many others, I've felt the pain of a retaliatory lawsuit, including the manufactured shame that tries to break us".

"While the suit against me was defeated, so many don't have the resources to fight back," she said, adding that she was "more resolved than ever to continue to stand for every woman's right to have a voice in protecting themselves".

The BBC has contacted Baldoni's lawyers for comment.

Judge Liman said Baldoni would be allowed to amend and refile his allegations related to interference with contracts by 23 June.

Judge Liman's dismissal comes a week after Lively asked to withdraw two of the claims in her suit against Baldoni – intentional infliction of emotional distress and negligent infliction of emotional distress.

In the original lawsuit, she said she experienced "severe emotional distress" in response to the alleged sexual harassment and smear campaign.

It Ends With Us is an adaption of a best-selling Colleen Hoover novel, which features Blake Lively as the main character, Lily Bloom, a young woman who grew up witnessing domestic abuse and finds herself in the same position years later.

Scotland's only oil refinery has stopped processing crude oil at Grangemouth after a century of operations, its owner Petroineos has confirmed.

In September, the company announced refining activities would cease in 2025 as it transitions to becoming an import terminal for finished fuels.

The site on the south bank of the Firth of Forth is home to the UK's oldest oil refinery, dating back to 1924.

It is being closed down by Petroineos, with the loss of 430 of the 2,000 jobs based at the sprawling 1,700-acre industrial complex.

The union Unite said political leaders had "utterly failed" the workers and the Grangemouth community, and would face "electoral wrath".

The SNP has called for the refinery to be nationalised, a demand rejected by the UK government.

Speedway bikes have one gear, no brakes, a clutch, a 500cc engines running on methanol fuel and can accelerate up to 60mph, faster than a Formula 1 car.

Heeps said the incident "felt like forever".

"I knew I was going in, it was just [about] when it was going to stop.

"By the time it stopped, I felt I was going very fast and it knocked the wind out of me."

He went to hospital straight after the meeting. His his X-rays had all come back "all clear" but he had been "in quite a bit of discomfort".

"The doctor said I'm going to be very sore and said I have a lot of internal bruising," adding that he was "managing the pain".

"The first two days I didn't really move … it was horrible, I felt useless but I'm staring to get back on my feet."

Heeps said initially his back, ribs and stomach had hurt the most.

"That's all coming down now and it's more my ankle."

Heeps said he hoped to be back "as soon as I can", potentially for the meeting at home to the Edinburgh Monarchs on 18 June.

He said he was "confident" he would get over the issues.

"It might take one or two races to calm down a bit and not be so tense on the bike.

"But if you are riding well previous to your crash, then it will all click back in and you will be straight back into the swing of things."

Oxford Speedway Supporters Club have raised more than £3,000 so far to help replace his equipment.

"I can't say how thankful I am," Heeps said.

The club said it was "relieved" that he had not suffered any breaks even though "Cam says he feels like he's been hit by a train".

"We wish Cam a speedy recovery and look forward to seeing him back on track soon!"

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The singer representing Ireland at the Eurovision Song Contest has revealed how her family became lifelong Norwich City fans.

Emmy Kristine Guttulsrud Kristiansen said her dad started following the Canaries aged seven when his favourite player, the late Martin Peters, left Tottenham Hotspur for Norwich in 1975.

The 26-year-old from Norway described Norwich as "beautiful" and said she loved watching games at Carrow Road.

Emmy, as she is known on stage, will perform at the Eurovision Grand Final if she gets through the semi-finals on 15 May.

"I grew up watching [Norwich] and going to a few matches," she told the BBC's Scrimmage Podcast.

"My first time at Carrow Road was in 2010.

"I remember the river, the ducks, the beautiful restaurants. It's just a beautiful city."

Emmy, who lives in the small Norwegian village of Sande, 37 miles (60km) south of Oslo, said she often listened to live match commentary on BBC Radio Norfolk.

Emmy's father, Roberth, described Norwich as a "good suit" for his family.

"Liverpool has about 50,000 supporters in Norway, and to be honest, that must be a bit boring.

"Norwich isn't the biggest or largest but it's a wonderful club."

Emmy, who has 1.2 million followers on TikTok, was selected to take part in Eurovision after she attended a songwriting camp in Norway.

She met an Irish songwriter who suggested she should apply to represent Ireland.

Emmy's song, Laika Party, is based on the Russian stray dog, Laika, who became the first living creature to orbit Earth in 1957.

It died during the mission.

"I'm so so excited [for Eurovison]. It's a childhood dream coming true," Emmy added.

"The only thing I can do is try my best to make Ireland proud. That's my main goal."

The grand final, which takes place in Basel, Switzerland, on 17 May, will be available to watch on BBC One and iPlayer.

The UK's entry is the female country-pop trio Remember Monday.