Manchester 250: Monday 17 September

FOUR TEENAGERS have been charged over a string of armed robberies over the last year. Police have raided the homes of Liam Domville, 18, of St Oswald's Road, Levenshulme and Kevin Boyle, 18, of Shepley Close, Dukinfield. The pair along with a 16-year-old and a 17-year-old from the Gorton and Levenshulme areas, are due to appear before Stockport magistrates charged with conspiracy to rob.

OVER 200 skateboarders and graffiti artists gathered at the Projekts Skatepark beneath the Mancunian Way over the weekend, in protest against two men jailed last month for defacing railway property with graffiti. The judge at Manchester crown court described Thomas Dolan, 20 and Thomas Whittaker, 18, as “decent people who have a talent” but said they had to be deterred from scarring railways and other property.

TWO GOATS have been abandoned on an island in the River Medlock because of the foot and mouth outbreak. The nationwide ban on the movement of livestock has meant that the distressed animals have been left stranded since last Monday. Following an ‘emergency movement order’ from the RSPCA, the two male billy goats are due to be rescued early this week.

MIKAEL SILVESTRE is out for the rest of the season. The United defender suffered a knee injury in the victorious match against Everton on Saturday. The 30-year-old went down after making a tackle during the first half at Goodison Park and was carried off the field on a stretcher. He is unlikely to return before the end of April.