Football fans could be forced to queue for longer than the length of a match if they travel to Wembley by train this weekend.

Rail bosses are warning the 38,000 Aston Villa supporters attending Saturday’s Championship play-off final against Fulham the quickest rail route between Birmingham and London will be blocked.

Public sector company Network Rail is carrying out a major signalling project between Birmingham New Street to Coventry.

Chiltern Railways has responded by adding capacity to its slower Birmingham Moor Street to London Marylebone route, but fans are being told to expect queues at stations which could exceed one-and-a-half hours.

The operator’s commercial director Eleni Jordan said: “We need passengers to know that Chiltern Railways trains will be very busy, and they should allow extra time for their journey.

“Customers travelling to Wembley over the weekend should be aware that queuing systems will be in place at Birmingham Moor Street, London Marylebone and Wembley Stadium stations, and there may be queues of 90 minutes or longer in both directions.”

Extra staff will be deployed to deal with the crowds.

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Dog theft has increased in Britain for two consecutive years, with five dogs reported stolen everyday in 2017, new figures have revealed.

The rise in popularity of ‘designer’ dog breeds like the French Bulldog, which cost upwards of £1,000, is contributing to the increase as their hefty price tag makes them a prime target for canine thieves.

Last year 1,909 dogs were reported stolen to police forces across the country compared with 1,788 in 2016, an increase of 6.8% in just 12 months.

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A train has ploughed into a big-rig truck stopped on the tracks outside the northern Italian city of Turin, killing at least two people and injuring 18 others, authorities said.

The Italian news agency ANSA said the first fatality was the engineer of the train, which smashed into the truck near the town of Caluso late on Wednesday on a run from Turin to the suburb of Ivrea.

Later, one of two critically injured people who were flown by helicopter to a hospital died, ANSA said.

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