News | Page 29

The Tate Liverpool art gallery will cut its staff. Management at the Albert Dock showpiece is seeking ways to make the gallery run more efficiently and is reviewing the numbers of front-of-house staff. The attraction said it would seek to make any changes through redeployment and voluntary redundancy.

An industrial development manager said he was hoping to lessen the impact of any redundancies at South Cumbrian firm Oxley Developments.

Liverpool-based firm TJ Hughes has announced it is to call in the administrator during the next week. The retailer was only bought out by its management team in March following the withdrawal of credit insurance for its suppliers.

Shut toilets are one of the reasons contributing to a Cumbrian town’s lack of visitor appeal, a report has claimed. So-called ‘Shop Doctor’ Bill Smith prescribed his diagnosis of why the ailing town Millom needed a revitalising shot in the arm.

A Merseyside chipboard factory which has faced a number of health and safety inquiries in the past decade was damaged by a large fire. In the latest incident at the Sonae plant in Kirkby the fire started in a woodchip storage bunker at the factory and caused much damage.

Blackpool Council is due to get rid of five senior posts as a cost-cutting measure. Those affected include executive director of tourism and regeneration Helen France, who joined the council from Knowsley Council in 2008.

Gully grate thefts are costing Trafford Council thousands of pounds. It is estimated one grate may fetch thieves £5 on the black market, but it can cost taxpayers between £150-200 to replace, depending on the circumstances. More than 80 grid covers had been stolen in one week alone, costing £15,000 to replace.

Police job losses will increase crime, the chairman of the Police Federation in Lancashire has said. John O’Reilly said: "If they think that it is not going to affect crime in this area, then they’re dreaming." The Home Office did not want to comment on Mr O’Reilly’s statement, but pledged that front-line services would be protected.

Lancashire Police Federation has said its members are "stretched to the limit" in reply to their chief constable’s plea to work harder. Steve Finnigan made a rallying call to officers to make a greater effort since the force faces cuts of £42 million in the next four years.

Fire crews tackled a plastics factory blaze in Rochdale and reported that they had contained the fire to one property. The severe fire broke out at Taylor Engineering and Plastics, in Moss Bridge Road, Rochdale at about 0600 BST on Thursday, April 28. Access to roads off Moss Bridge Road has been restricted.

The University of Salford has announced it is getting rid of 200 jobs as part of a "strategy to enhance and improve" the university. It said that most of the losses would occur from administrative areas, while new roles will be created.

A car firm which has a site in Merseyside was revealed record sales over world markets. Jaguar Land Rover, which produces cars at Halewood, Merseyside, reported that its sales in March ranked with the highest monthly figure in the company’s 63-year history.