Ten thousand new charging points for electric vehicles are to be installed in the West Midlands, the region's mayor has said.

Mayor Richard Parker said the move would help with "reducing pollution and tackling the climate emergency head-on".

He added that the West Midlands was "the beating heart of the UK car industry" and it should be at the forefront of "a new era of electrification".

The West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA), which is led by Parker, said there were currently more than 4,000 publicly accessible charging points on the region's road network.

The WMCA covers 18 councils in the West Midlands, including city councils in Birmingham, Coventry and Wolverhampton.

The combined authority said it would work with local councils to install the new chargers within a maximum timeframe of four years.

Ultra-fast charging stations

The initiative is due to include almost 200 charging points at nine ultra-fast filling stations, where drivers can charge their vehicles with up to 100 miles of range in less than 15 minutes.

The WMCA said the mayor had secured part of the funding for the initiative from the national government's fund for local electric vehicle infrastructure.

It added that the West Midlands currently had the fifth highest number of charging points in all English regions outside London.

Parker said earlier this month that the region was "leading the way" on green public transport, after a fleet of new electric double decker buses was unveiled.

National Express West Midlands now operates 329 electric buses in the region, about a quarter of the fleet.

Derby City Council has defended its decision to use emergency powers to begin demolition work at a historical former theatre over "public safety" fears.

Contractors started pulling down parts of the Hippodrome site in Green Lane on Sunday following a fire on Friday.

It was the latest in a series of recent fires at the site and on Monday, Derbyshire Fire and Rescue Service confirmed it was started deliberately.

The decision to start demolition work at the Grade II listed site has drawn criticism but the city council said it had a "responsibility to keep people safe".

The old theatre building had been used as a bingo hall before it shut in 2007.

In February, the Derbyshire Historic Buildings Trust said it hoped to compulsory purchase the site with ambitions to bring it back into use as a music venue.

But now the council has now said it does not know if any of the building can be saved.

The Theatres Trust (TTT), the national advisory body for theatres, said it had recently awarded a grant to the historic buildings trust to progress this work, and was "devastated" by the demolition work.

Its chief executive officer Joshua McTaggart said: "Derby Hippodrome had an irreplaceable social and cultural heritage, much of which is now likely to be sadly lost for the future generations of Derby residents.

"But this is about more than just heritage.

"Until this recent series of fires, there was still a realistic opportunity to save parts of the building and bring it back into use as an independent music venue."

Mr Taggart added the trust was in touch with the council and Historic England to ascertain what remained of the building and next steps.

'Death risk'

Ashley Waterhouse, chair of the Derby Civic Society called the demolition "a great shame".

But the council's cabinet member for street pride and public safety Ndukwe Onuoha has defended the decision.

He told the BBC: "I understand there will be people who are upset because it's a Grade II listed building but ultimately, when you compare that with a possible loss of life if that building comes to collapse whilst people are walking near it or around – then we would be having a different conversation wouldn't we?

"At the end of the day we do have a responsibility to keep residents safe."

The roof of the building next to Macklin Street was removed on Sunday and a wall was demolished on Crompton Street, the council said.

On Monday, the authority said the work involved "levelling the basement" so machines could be brought further into the site.

A spokesperson said: "The fire at the Hippodrome on Friday caused severe damage and the structure and integrity of the building is at risk.

"There is now imminent danger to the safety of the public, so emergency planning powers have been used to begin demolition work.

"Derbyshire Building Control Partnership visited the site on Friday and Saturday and have handed it to Cheshire Demolition Controllers to make it safe.

"This work will continue until the building no longer poses a threat to public safety. Currently, we don't know how much, if any, of the building can be saved."

Members of the public have been asked to stay away from the site while the work is ongoing.

The car park on Crompton Street has now partially reopened and Macklin Street remains closed.

Road closures on Green Lane remain in place except for access, the council added.

The popularity of disposable e-cigarettes or vapes has fallen ahead of a UK-wide ban on their sale on 1 June, a study suggests.

The percentage of people aged 16-24 who mainly use disposable vapes has dropped by nearly half in the last year from 63% to 35%, University College London (UCL) researchers say.

But researchers believe vape users are switching to refillable and rechargeable vapes in anticipation of the ban – instead of giving up.

As a result they warn the ban may only have a "limited impact" on vaping rates as it found vaping in general stalled between January 2024 and 2025 in all adults over 16 after several years of significant growth.

The UK government ban on disposable and single-use vapes is aimed at stopping littering as, in most cases, the vapes cannot be recycled and often end up in landfill or pollute natural environments.

The ban is also aimed at tackling rising rates of youth vaping and protecting children from harm.

GP Dr Helen Wall told BBC Breakfast that NHS advice is "very clear" that vaping should be used as a means to stop smoking.

"But for people who have never smoked, and for young people particularly, to turn to vaping can be quite detrimental," she said.

"Our young people are becoming quite addicted. It's affecting their concentration, they're becoming agitated, their capacity to learn is affected, their developing brain can be affected."

The UCL study looked at survey data on vaping habits in England, Wales and Scotland both before and after the ban was announced.

The study used data from the Smoking Toolkit Study, which collected data on 88,611 people aged 16 and over.

Before the ban, between January 2022 and January 2024, vaping among those aged 16 and over went up from 8.9% to 13.5%.

In young adults aged 16-24, usage increased more sharply, from 17% to 26.5%.

After the ban was announced, researchers found a decline in the number of vapers mainly using disposable e-cigarettes – in all age groups and particularly among 16-24 year olds.

The study only asked vape users about their main choice of device.

Dr Sarah Jackson, who works for the UCL Tobacco and Alcohol Research Group and is the lead author of the survey, tells the BBC she thinks "more people are turning to refillable, reusable devices" rather than stopping vaping altogether.

"We often see people change their behaviour in response to impending policy changes before they come into action," she adds.

Disposable vapes are single-use devices, which come pre-filled with vape liquid, whereas refillable and rechargeable (reusable) devices have a longer shelf-life and are often a cheaper way to vape in the long-term.

A reusable vape has vape liquid that can be refilled and a battery that can be recharged.