City news in 250 words: Monday 21 February

Job cuts begin at GMP
Compulsory redundancy notices have been sent out to staff at Greater Manchester Police, which needs to save £134m this year – 25 per cent of its budget.Letters have been received by 156 people employed in areas including IT and HR. A total of 844 posts are predicted to go by 2013. Police officers are protected by law from being made redundant.

Pensioner injured after robbery
The woman was walking with her son near Briscoe Lane, Newton Heath, when the attacker grabbed her handbag on Sunday morning.She remains in a serious but stable condition, police said. The offender ran off with her bag containing some cash and a bus pass. He is described as white and in his mid-to-late teens.

FA Cup cheers for Reds and Blues
Both United and City had success in their FA Cup matches this weekend. Old Trafford played host to non-league Crawley Town on Saturday. Despite several scares by Crawley the score finished 1-0 with United going through to the quarter-finals. City’s 4th round replay against Notts County at Eastlands was a display of dominance, ending in a 5-0 victory and securing a place in the 5th round against Aston Villa.

Airport acts after parking scam
A man has appeared in court after airport bosses found a parking scam had cost them £500k. Brian Pearson, director of MIA Secure Parking, was prosecuted for charging premium rates to keep cars in a secure compound – then illegally storing them at the airport short stay park. The airport has since introduced number plate recognition technology to prevent this type of fraud from happening again.

Out the window weather forecast: Cold, damp and miserable with chance of sleet. Hardly worth getting out of bed for.