It has been confirmed this morning that Trafford will become the next Greater Manchester borough to have local lockdown restrictions lifted.
Trafford Labour has released a statement addressing the release within the last hour.
The statement shared with residents on Facebook reads: “A number of residents have been in contact to ask for the Council’s position on the lifting of local lockdown restrictions.
“We all want to see restrictions lifted as soon as possible, guided by the data and when it is safe to do so. Households being unable to mix in their own homes and gardens is of course extremely frustrating and difficult, and we are grateful to those who have followed the guidance and made sacrifices over the past month since local restrictions were introduced. This has contributed to a decrease in the number of cases per 100,000 people in Trafford, so thank you.
“It is imperative that when restrictions are lifted we can be confident we will not need to return to them a few weeks later because of a resultant spike in cases. That would be devastating for families, and hit our local economy hard. Whilst we accept that there will be a range of views from residents on this – and that we all want to see restrictions lifted safely as soon as possible – in line with the advice of our Director of Public Health, Trafford Council did not this week request the lifting of local lockdown restrictions.
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“Instead we asked for another week or two of local restrictions in the interests of public safety.
Timing: with schools returning next week and a bank holiday weekend over the next few days, we feel that this is a delicate time to ease restrictions. Our priority is to see children back in school safely receiving the education that they need.
The rate of infection in Trafford has been increasing slightly in the last few days.
Our current infection rate of 21.1 cases 100,000 is almost twice the national average rate of infection of 11.7.
We are inextricably linked to other boroughs in Greater Manchester with people visiting these areas on a daily basis to work and socialise. As an illustration around one third of our electoral wards – from Hale Barns in the south to Clifford in the north – share a boundary with wards in the City of Manchester: current infection rates here are 41.2.
We have seen instances of Covid identified in every one of our 21 electoral wards across Trafford at some point in the last two weeks.
“To that end, it was our view – in line with the expert advice from the Council’s Director of Public Health – that we should see evidence of a sustained reduction in Trafford’s infection numbers before calling for the lifting of local restrictions. This is not yet the case, with the last few days showing a slight increase in infection rates again.
“We understand some will consider this to have been an overly cautious approach, but it has been one made with the safety of Trafford residents in mind. Whilst we have supported calls for those businesses not yet allowed to open – beauticians, ice rinks, bowling alleys and soft play centres – we believe it is slightly premature to lift restrictions relating to households at this time.
“It is apparent that for all of their claims of working in collaboration with local authorities, the Government has decided to overrule the Council and lift restrictions in Trafford.
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“We understand this will be announced today.”
The statement by Trafford Labour can be read in full here.
This is a Breaking News story – More to follow.
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Appeal launched to find the owner of live chickens found at Creamfields festival
Daisy Jackson
The hunt is on to find the owner of a pair of chickens who were discovered at Creamfields festival.
The two birds were spotted on the grounds of the huge electronic music festival by bewildered festival-goers.
The cockerel and hen were trapped in a hedge, after it appears they wandered onto the festival campsite before the security barriers were installed.
The birds then found themselves trapped inside as around 70,000 music fans poured into Cheshire for a line-up that included Calvin Harris, Swedish House Mafia, Disclosure, and Tiësto.
The chickens have been safely rescued from the Creamfields festival site and are recovering at a wildlife centre, and now the RSPCA is on a mission to find their owner.
Festival-goers first called the RSPCA on Saturday 29 August to alert them to the cockerel and hen trapped inside the festival, one of whom assisted in the rescue mission.
RSPCA Inspector Leanne Cooper: “I was surprised that they were inside the festival site and I needed to get through the road blocks and security before reaching them on foot through muddy fields. I met the caller who helped me as they were just running up and down the hedge line where there was a wire fence blocking access.
Where the chickens were discovered at CreamfieldsThe RSPCA wants to track their owners down
“We managed to guide them out and I caught both of them with my rescue net which was a bit of a sight for the festival campers.
“I don’t think they were abandoned and they’re more likely to be stray because it’s farmland all around the festival site. They don’t have any health issues, apart from being quite underweight.
“With the fences going up a week before the festival starts they’d probably been unable to get out for some time and had been left foraging in the hedge. Someone mentioned that a third bird was also trapped, although we couldn’t find any others.
“I am really grateful to the festival-goer who found them and alerted us to their plight.”
Manchester Airport issues update for anyone flying today after hundreds of cancellations yesterday
Emily Sergeant
Manchester Airport has issued an update for anyone catching a flight today after hundreds of cancellations yesterday.
In case you hadn’t heard, hundreds of flights at several major UK airports – including Manchester Airport – were disrupted by a technical fault at air traffic control provider National Air Traffic Services (NATS) yesterday (8 September 2026), with the incident grounding planes and resulting in numerous cancellations.
According to Flightradar24, more than 1,000 flights were cancelled nationwide, and many passengers were told to expect disruption for the rest of the day.
One of the worst-affected airlines was said to be Ryanair, with around 65,000 passengers affected by the cancellations and delays.
Manchester Airport issued its first statement addressing the matter at 3:15pm yesterday, stating: “We are aware of an issue affecting NATS’ air traffic control service at UK airports, which may result in delays to some departing flights from Manchester Airport today.
“Passengers due to travel are advised to check the latest status of their flight with their airline. We will continue to monitor the situation and share further updates as more information becomes available.”
Now, although the issue has been resolved, Manchester Airport has issued further statements informing anyone travelling today what they can expect.
The airport started off by saying that it is ‘operating as normal’ today, but that passengers are advised to ‘check with their airline for the latest information’.
The Manc -
28th August 2020 
