Unpaid overtime

MORE than 350,000 workers in the West Midlands are losing thousands of pounds a year in unpaid overtime, new union figures have revealed.

The Trades Union Congress research shows that the 354,000 employees in the region who do unpaid overtime would earn on average an extra £4,190 a year if they were paid for it.

The union is urging workers to highlight their plight to management by taking proper lunch breaks and leaving work on time as part of the Work Your Proper Hours awareness day.

Landmark tune

A BILLION songs have been downloaded from the iTunes music store, Apple said.

The landmark tune - Coldplay's Speed of Sound - went to a buyer from Michigan in the US.

Apple is awarding him a $10,000 (£5,723) gift voucher, 10 iPods and an iMac computer to mark the occasion.

Post support

THE Government's £300m package of support for rural Post Offices over the next two years was given clearance by the European Commission.

The extension of the support depended on the Government persuading the EC that it did not represent unfair state aid.

Orange landline

ORANGE has announced it is to be the first mobile phone operator to move into the landline market in the UK with the introduction of a fixed line service for businesses. The firm said it will undercut BT charges by up to 20 per cent.

with Orange Landline for Business which will provide a fixed line service to both existing and new Orange mobile business customers.

Businesses will be able to replace both their current landline rental and call services with a single Orange package catering for mobile, national and international needs, the firm said.