Birmingham City climb out of the Championship relegation zone with victory over mid-table Ipswich at St Andrew's.

Fulham maintain their automatic promotion chances in the Championship with a routine win at Norwich.

Striker Kurtis Guthrie is to leave Colchester United after his contract is cancelled by mutual consent.

If NHS regulators and the health secretary approve the merger, it could be in place by July.

Low staff numbers temporarily close a ward which treats people with severe mental disorders.

Two men have admitted causing explosions at cash machines in Leicestershire and Cambridgeshire.

Charlie Smith, 31, of Mere Lane, Lutterworth and Alfie Adams, 39, of Bickershaw Lane in Wigan, appeared at Leicester Crown Court yesterday.

They were charged with three counts of unlawfully and maliciously causing an explosion of a nature likely to endanger life or cause serious damage to property to which they admitted.

The charges relate to raids at the Co-operative store in Cosby, Leicestershire, on 21 November, Tesco Express, London Road, Hinckley, Leicestershire, on 22 November; and the Co-operative store in Burwell, Cambridgeshire, on 22 November.

The men appeared alongside John Doran, 20, of Gelderd Road in Gildersome, Leeds.

All three admitted burglary charges. They will be sentenced on 13 April.

We're ending our regular live updates on the reaction to the announcement that Mick McCarthy is to leave the manager's seat at Ipswich Town at the end of the season.

Image source, Getty Images

You can post your thoughts on the BBC Suffolk Facebook page, external.

BBC Radio Suffolk brings you Life's A Pitch and Matchday on Saturday, as Town visit Birmingham, and there's more commentary on Monday for the visit of McCarthy's former club Millwall.

Reacting to the news Mick McCarthy will leave Ipswich Town, Tyrone Mings said: "Personally I have nothing other than positivity about everything he did for me whilst at the club and the position he's got the club into.

"What has happened since [the play-off season] - arguably people will say there hasn't been enough attractive football - I think the job he has done has been fantastic."

Image source, Getty Images

One of Mick McCarthy's big success stories at Ipswich Town was Tyrone Mings - the young defender bought for £10,000 and sold for £8m.

He told BBC Radio Suffolk: "I can never truly put into words how much of an influence Mick McCarthy and Terry Connor were on my early career - they were very much like fatherly figures.

"They bled me into the team when I needed to be, took me out when I needed it, but most importantly they gave me time to develop.

"I remember quitting my job on the Tuesday, signing on the Thursday and on the Friday I was travelling up to Leeds with the squad."

Hear the full interview on Stephen Foster's Drivetime show.

The alleged assaults are said to have happened between July and August 2016.

The East Anglian diocese said it was the second attack at the church in recent months.

Heather Burman
Journalist, BBC News Online

Motorists should avoid the area if possible.

Former England boss Steve McLaren is top of the William Hill betting list, external to become next Ipswich manager.

McLaren, who has also managed Middlesborough, FC Twente, VfL Wolfsburg, Nottingham Forest, Derby and Newcastle, is 3/1 (at the time of writing) and is currently without a job.

Former Town captain Tony Mowbray, currently at Blackburn Rovers in League One, is 7/2.

Image source, Getty Images

Cambridge News

Cambridge’s first ever student ‘townhouses’, external are set to open on Mill Road this summer, with rooms available for more than £12,500 per year.

Here's a selection of the national coverage of the announcement the Mick McCarthy and Ipswich Town are to part company at the end of the season:

• The Independent: "McCarthy has spent six years at Ipswich but will move after a disappointing season, external"
• The Sun: "The Tractor Boys have fallen off the pace, external in the chase for the Championship playoffs"
• The Guardian: "We both agreed, external that this was the best way forward, says owner"

Meanwhile, The Sack Race, external is installing Lincoln City's Danny Cowley as 5/2 favourite to take over at Portman Road.

The Imps boss oversaw the defeat of Ipswich in the FA Cup a year ago, in what was one of the low-points of McCarthy's reign.

Image source, Getty Images

At the time, Ipswich and England legend Terry Butcher said: "I can't remember ever being so embarrassed and humiliated as an Ipswich fan.

"Ipswich lost the wrong way, not enough fight, not enough passion."

Manager Mick McCarthy will leave Ipswich Town when his contract expires at the end of the season, the club confirms.

The latest news, sport, travel and weather updates for Cambridgeshire, Essex, Norfolk and Suffolk.

As the press conference came to an end, one final question prompted an interesting response from Mick McCarthy - will his exit lead the way for others?

The future of Polish international goalkeeper Bartosz Bialkowski has been a hot topic of conversation over recent months, and McCarthy suggested that during conversations "Barts" had been keen to know whether the manager would still be here next season.

Image source, European Photopress Agency

During his press conference, outgoing Ipswich Town manager Mick McCarthy also called out the "numbskulls who've been given me abuse".

"That comment is for the people who have been doing it and ruining games at Portman Road and making it hard for players to play," he said.

"They probably don't give too many people respect, let alone the manager."

Instead of an Easter egg hunt, a coalition of churches in Suffolk is asking people to search for 200 crosses they have hidden. Churches Together in Sudbury and District is distributing the crosses around the area to celebrate Christianity. The small wooden crosses all have a Bible verse written on them. Gerry Higginson, chairman of Churches Together, said: "The idea is to provide something tangible as a reminder of the gift that God gave to us in Jesus."

Image source, Churches Together