Greater Manchester police have pleaded not guilty to breaking health and safety laws in the shooting dead of an unarmed man.

Anthony Grainger was shot dead in 2012 as he sat in a car.

On Monday at Westminster magistrates court, the force announced it would fight the case and formally entered a plea of not guilty.

The GMP chief constable, Sir Peter Fahy, is technically named in the charge but did not attend the hearing. Judge Howard Riddle sent the case to the crown court. GMP face a fine if convicted.

Grainger, 36, was shot through the chest as he sat in a car in the village of Culcheth, Cheshire.

The charge alleges failures in the police's planning and actions, contrary to health and safety laws, as officers attempted to arrest Grainger in a pre-planned armed operation.

The police failings, the charge alleges, exposed Grainger to unnecessary risk.

Fahy is named in the charge because he is chief constable. He is not facing criminal allegations personally, has no need to attend court and, if the jury convicts, he will not get a criminal record.

No individual officer has been charged over the shooting, including the one who opened fire.

The decision not to charge the officer who shot Grainger came after the director of public prosecutions decided a jury would believe the police marksman's claim to have acted in self-defence.

The next hearing in the health and safety case against GMP will be later this month at Southwark crown court.