Maintenance on roads in Co Cork could grind to a halt later this month after trade union Siptu announced that it had served notice of industrial action on Cork County Council.

The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) has been fired up to start delivering physics data for the first time in 27 months, meaning experiments can resume at the world’s largest particle accelerator.

One in 10 maintenance payment cases reviewed by the Department of Social Protection’s specialised unit involved a liable parent who could either not be traced or was living outside the country.