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More than fifty jobs are at risk following the announcement that Wesham Hospital Rehabilitation Unit in Lancashire is to close as part of a savings plan. Over the ensuing month services and patients at Wesham Hospital are to be transferred to Clifton Hospital, Lytham.

Managers at the Heinz factory at Wigan defended their stance in pay negotiations, while union representatives said workers were still willing to sit down with the company to avoid further strikes.

Three councils in North West England are among the biggest losers in spending power for 2011-12 as they have been hit by the maximum 8.9% cut in their core central government funding over the next two years. Burnley (controlled by the Lib Dems), Pendle, which has no overall control (NOC), and Preston (NOC) are all affected, and face cuts in services.

Liverpool City Council has cut 48 out of the 74 senior management jobs at the local authority. City Council leader Joe Anderson said the authority faces a deficit of £1bn over the next four years due to government cuts.

Merseyside Police needs to trim millions of pounds from its annual budget, and therefore could have up to 800 fewer officers on the beat by 2014 compared to the current 4,500.

Six thousand jobs are under threat at Lancashire County Council due to cuts, says a leading union.

Greater Manchester Police said overall crime had fallen in the region in the past six months, and also there had been a 20.5% drop in reported gun crime over the same period. The force said 31 firearms were discharged between 1 April and 31 August, compared with 39 in the same period last year.

A leading union said its members at Merseyrail, excluding guards and drivers, would be urged to support industrial action following two pay offers being rejected. Merseyrail was unavailable for comment, while the strike ballot will end on November 30. Merseyrail carries more than 100,000 passengers on average during weekdays on the Wirral and Northern Lines in Merseyside.

Greater Manchester Police says that though burglary continues to go down on the Metropolitan Division, dark afternoons and evenings can provide extra cover for criminals.

Police say the causes of the fire are suspicious following an incident when a 95-year-old woman suffered serious burns and five other residents were injured in a suspected arson attack at a care home in Lancashire. The woman is in a serious condition after the blaze at the Cleveleys Park Rest Home on Stockdove Way.

While most children have merely reached half-term, pupils at the newly-opened East Manchester Academy are at a different stage. With the school trialling a five-term calendar, they are not midway through autumn term but have finished their first full term. But next year, when others get a five-day February half-term, the academy’s pupils will work a week longer before enjoying a fortnight’s rest, then another two weeks in May.

Thousands of jobs could go in Lancashire and Greater Manchester as a result of expected defence spending cuts. The cuts affect BAE Systems sites in Warton, which employs nearly 8,000 workers, and Samlesbury. Cheadle MP Mark Hunter said it would be "daft" to bring forward the closure of the Nimrod plant in Woodford, Greater Manchester, which employs 950 people on this project.