City news in 250 words: Tuesday 7 June

HIV TESTS are being offered to everyone admitted to Manchester Royal Infirmary’s medical assessment unit - that’s about 1,000 people each month. The policy has been introduced because of Manchester’s relatively high level of HIV cases. The hospital hopes the policy will eventually be extended to the whole hospital.

THE ALTRINCHAM AND ECCLES Metrolink lines will be closed this weekend (11 and 12 June) for engineering work to the ramp at Deansgate Castlefield. Replacement bus services will run between Altrincham and Piccadilly taking 62 minutes, and between Eccles and Piccadilly taking 42 minutes. Normal services will resume from the start of service on Monday 13 June.

UP TO 600 PEOPLE were evacuated from their homes in East Manchester yesterday after a gas fire. The blaze in Bradford, near the City of Manchester Stadium is thought to have started when a broken pipe ignited at an industrial site on Upper Helena Street. Residents were temporarily housed at a sports centre in Longsight and have now returned to their homes.

A TEACHER FROM FALLOWFIELD who was almost killed last year when she was thrown from her bike is now in training for a triathlon. Sarah Rhodes, 25, suffered ten broken bones when a car pulled out in front of her on Wilmslow Road in Didsbury. Last month she completed the Great Manchester Run in 41 minutes, and is hoping to compete with the British team in a Super Sprint Triathlon in London in June and in the 2012 World and Euro championships.

Fact of the day: This week in 1832 the Reform Act became law, finally giving Manchester the right to two MPs, and Salford the right to one.

For more Manchester history check out @revealmcr