More than eighty requests have been made for voluntary redundancy at the Manchester Evening News and its sister weeklies.

Staff were waiting to hear if there will be any compulsory redundanices at the papers - the company has not revealed how many jobs could go - and now each application will be reviewed individually.

Last month MEN Media announced it was seeking voluntary redundancies in response to a fall in advertising revenues, and a deadline for staff to register their interest has now passed.

GMG regional head of HR, Jim Banham, said: "The applications have raised a number of operational issues which will need to be examined.

"It is likely that this process will take at least a couple of weeks, after which we hope to be in a position to formally respond to applicants and start consultations with our trade unions."

The National Union of Journalists is already threatening to ballot for industrial action over compulsory redundancies, and about a 2.5 per cent pay rise.

At a chapel meeting last week they also unanimously rejected the pay offer which was announced at the same time as the redundancies and "a wide-ranging series of reviews" at the group.

A chapel spokesperson said: "Even if volunteers can be found in enough numbers to satisfy the bean-counters, those left behind will have the task of filling rotas which currently stretch across 18 hours a day since we now produce our first edition first thing in the morning (involving evening working for which we negotiated a premium payment the year before and which was improved last year).

"Last year we were on the brink of strike action over this before settling with a less than satisfactory deal. But despite all the flexibility we have shown, management still want more.

"To add insult to injury they have told us our pay offer this year would be 2.5 per cent – and that's 'all we can afford'."