HERE’s your evening news round-up for the Black Country and north Worcestershire.

Dudley’s Sam Allardyce has no doubt he is tough enough to deal with the challenges of the England manager's job and declared: "Bring it on."

The 61-year-old, who grew up in Wrens Nest, dismissed suggestions the job was a poisoned chalice after he was officially unveiled by the Football Association today (Monday).

Allardyce replaces Roy Hodgson after the former manager quit following England's disastrous Euro 2016 campaign, where they were dumped out of the competition by Iceland.

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A Dudley carer who sprayed deodorant over a man with severe learning difficulties, leaving him looking as though he had been dipped in flour, has been jailed for seven months.

Nicholas Howard, a father-of-one, who worked for Lifeways Community Care, also pulled the ears of the victim who lived in a bungalow in Badger Court, off Brierley Hill Road in Wordsley.

Members of staff had seen Howard close the door of the bungalow as the end of his shift and when they checked on the man, who needed round-the-clock daily care, they discovered he had been sprayed with deodorant.

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Anniversary celebrations were somewhat bittersweet for the long-running Black Country Talking Newspaper and Magazine for the blind which faces a battle to stay on the air after losing vital funding.

Dedicated volunteers celebrated the 40th birthday of the Stourbridge-based initiative which has been providing a weekly round-up of the latest local news and sport to thousands of people across the Black Country affected by sight loss.

But earlier this month - the service, which is run by Black Country sight loss charity the Beacon Centre, was dealt a huge blow when it was confirmed Dudley Council would be withdrawing its financial support for the initiative from October.

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A brave Black Country runner hopes to raise cash for a cause close to his heart when he takes on the Great Birmingham Run later this year after overcoming two life-threatening illnesses and a broken ankle in one year.

Christian Caddick was anticipating the happiest year of his life after his girlfriend Sarah agreed to marry him just over a year ago, but he had no idea what lay ahead.

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Tributes have been paid to a popular Pedmore newsagent who died at the age of 57 after a long battle with cancer.

Brian Norgrove, who ran his family’s business Norgrove's Newsagents, passed away on June 30 after suffering from cancer of the lymph glands for the past four years.

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Tributes have also been flooding in for popular Stourport Swifts chairman Chris Reynolds, who died yesterday (Sunday July 24), aged 70, after a brave battle with cancer.

Mr Reynolds had been a prominent figure at the club for over 45 years, joining as a player in the 1970s before taking on roles as reserve team manager and a committee member.

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A probe is being launched by Worcestershire health bosses after revelations that patients of two senior NHS consultants were referred for treatment at their own private clinic after the loss of the service at Redditch's Alexandra Hospital.

Worcestershire Acute Hospitals Trust is setting up an independent investigation after patients of clinical directors Steve Pandey and Stephen Lake - who each earn around £100,000 a year from the NHS - were referred for treatment at their clinic in Worcester at a cost to taxpayers of up to £1 million.

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Bromsgrove county councillors are calling for a rethink on their recommendation for a Western Bypass in the town.

At Bromsgrove's last full council meeting on Wednesday, July 20 Cllr Luke Mallett, who represents Bromsgrove West, challenged the validity of the county council's report on the proposal, claiming it did not address the existing congestion on the town's roads.

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