Forget the retirement dream of moving to the countryside or heading to the coast – more than half (52 per cent) of the residents of the UK’s biggest cities want to stay exactly where they are when they stop work, according to new research by Prudential. The findings – which are taken from Prudential’s exclusive research comparing attitudes to finance and the preparations workers are making for retirement in the UK’s biggest cities – show that most people are happy to retire in the city in which they currently live.

The Yorkshire market town of Otley has teamed up with Children's Heart Surgery Fund to raise money for the charity by offering 'Personalised Poems for a Pound' in the run up to Valentine's Day, 2017. Otley is thought to be the only town in the country with its own official poet – and local bard Matthew Hedley-Stoppard will pen the personalised poems in return for a minimum £1 donation to the charity. People wishing to use the service simply upload the name of a loved one when a donation is made and Matthew will craft a bespoke poem in their honour.

Nationwide efforts to reduce child traffic casualty rates have been boosted in Birmingham with the launch of a new road safety early learning book. ‘The Conies: Walking to School Safely Journal’ features an inspirational family of traffic-cone-shaped cartoon characters - The Conies – whose creators hope will become national or even international heroes of road safety for children.

A three-tiered service for Birmingham’s Community Library have been drawn up following feedback from citizens during a recent public consultation. Initial plans (with opening hours and staff support reduced in tiers 2 and 3) were put forward as part of the council’s effort to respond to reduced funding from central government and would have seen the libraries at Aston and Sutton closed – reducing annual expenditure by £1.9million by 2018/19.

Research from Royal Mail has revealed the UK’s most popular hiding spots for Valentine’s gifts in the home. At the top of the list is the “wardrobe” (21 per cent) with “under the bed” (13 per cent) coming a close second. Wardrobes were the favourite secret hiding place for adults in the north east. Over a quarter of respondents from the north east (28 per cent) confessed to finding their Valentine’s gifts hidden in the wardrobe.

Mental health came under the spotlight at a unique Sandwell event aimed at improving care and support in the community. More than 50 people took part in the Ideas Festival held at West Bromwich Town Hall and hosted by the borough’s Mental Health People’s Parliament and rights-based organisation Changing Our Lives. The event focused on ‘community places of safety’, where people can go for support.