A student has been slapped with a £150 ticket after being caught feeding the pigeons a piece of his tortilla wrap in Piccadilly Gardens.
25-year-old Rishi Prem, who only moved to the UK in February, told the MEN he was unaware of the law and did not know he was technically littering when he handed a piece of his meal to the birds.
But an environmental enforcement officer explained that it was not permitted and immediately issued a fine for £150.
Mr Prem told the MEN: “[The officer] was watching me from the moment I sat down and started eating, and he saw the birds coming towards me so he could have warned me. But there was no warning – it was like he was just waiting for that moment.
“I have only been here four or five months, I have no knowledge of the laws and did not know that it was a crime. And there were no signs around saying that.
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“In my country it is common. It is usual to feed other living things. It is just a natural human action.”
“I felt sympathy for [the pigeon] as it looked so hungry,” Mr Prem added.
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Pigeons congregate in Piccadilly Gardens / Image: Kristina via Flickr
There have been multiple instances of people being issued with penalties for feeding wildlife in Manchester city centre.
Last summer, a woman was handed a £120 fine for sharing her Greggs sausage roll with the Piccadilly Gardens pigeons.
A litter-picker was also given a £150 ticket for giving the birds some potatoes.
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Manchester Council have emphasised fines are in place to deter people from feeding animals as the habit is “bad for the local environment and can also be harmful to the birds”.
The council says it will continue to issue fines to anyone caught feeding pigeons in Picc Gardens / Image: Pxfuel
Executive Member for Neighbourhoods Rabnawaz Akbar said the council would continue to issue fines for these offences.
“Our residents have told us that they want to enjoy a clean, hygienic city centre and we won’t tolerate this behaviour,” he stated.
“There are signs in and around Piccadilly Gardens, where this issue is more prevalent, to let people know that feeding pigeons is not allowed.”
Featured image: Wikimedia Commons
Manchester
UK’s largest outdoor tubing slide will be winding through the Heaton Park woodland this summer
Emily Sergeant
The UK’s largest outdoor tubing slide will be winding through the woodland in Heaton Park this summer.
That’s right – thrill seekers, this one’s for you, as Zip World Manchester is launching its new Forest Tubing experience later this month, and it’s bringing the UK’s longest outdoor tubing slide is coming to Heaton Park.
The new family‑friendly outdoor adventure gives visitors the chance to soar along two slides, winding through woodland at one of the largest parks in the North West.
Suitable for children aged four and above, visitors can book an hour-long session – with unlimited rides during that time slot – and either ride solo, or share the experience with fellow adventurers.
The arrival of the new Forest Tubing experience on Friday 22 May – just in time for schools across Greater Manchester to break up for half term – is set to build on Zip World Manchester’s existing woodland adventures, which already include a range of treetop net high ropes courses.
“Forest Tubing is a fun high‑energy experience that the whole family can enjoy,” commented Andrew Hudson, who is the CEO of Zip World, ahead of the experience’s arrival in Manchester later this month.
“We’re proud to bring the UK’s longest tubing experience to Manchester and give people even more reasons to get outside and spend quality time together.
The UK’s largest outdoor tubing slide will be winding through the Heaton Park woodland this summer / Credit: Supplied
“It’s a great addition to our Manchester site and something we’re looking forward to launching ahead of the summer.”
As mentioned, Forest Tubing opens at Zip World Manchester on Friday 22 May, and tickets start at £20 per person, but those booking in advance can save 15% through Zip World’s ‘early bird’ offer.
For visitors looking to make a full day of it, Zip World’s saver bundles also allow guests to book multiple adventures at a discounted rate – with Forest Tubing able to be combined with other woodland experiences at the Heaton Park site, including Treetop Nets, Tree Hoppers, and more.
‘We were so lucky to have it’ – Has Manchester’s hospo scene reached a dangerous tipping point?
Danny Jones
Greater Manchester’s hospitality sector is calling for change and better support, both for the local community and the UK government, following the latest raft of closures.
Various well-known independent businesses have closed in the first quarter of 2026 across the city centre, let alone the numerous others across the ten boroughs over the past year or so.
In truth, this worrying trend has been going on for much longer than the last 12 months, and it seems that it’s not just new openings that are most at risk of closing before they can even get going, but now well-established regional institutions are struggling to stay afloat.
Case in point, our oldest Turkish restaurant – which had been serving central Manchester for nearly half a century – Topkapi Palace, has now closed seemingly for good.
A recent addition to the city centre itself, French-Vietnamese cafe and restaurant Doux Chaton wrote on social media: “This is genuinely so sad to see. Topkapi Palace is part of Manchester’s fabric. Running an independent spot is no joke — it takes everything.
“If we keep letting places like this go, we lose more than food; we lose culture, history, identity. Please support your local independents where you can. It matters more than ever – our representatives need to support our community not only regionally but nationally.”
They went on to tag the likes of Mayor Andy Burnham, Chancellor Rachel Reeves and others to call for crucial intervention sooner rather than later.
For some, it’s unfortunately already too late.
Currently, their Stockport in Hazel Grove looks to be remaining open, but we’ve seen this story before; Almost Famous, Seven Brothers, Greens, and SO many others have sadly had to shut up most, if not all, of their locations.
As of this May, we’ve already had to say goodbye to the likes of Topkapi, KAJI, Climat and House of Fu; Project Halcyon, Örme, the long-standing TNQ, the first-ever Northern Simmons site, a branch of Banyan, just to name an unlucky few.
This is just heartbreaking. We can’t carry on with either this PM or Chancellor. Both need stepping to one side and allowing others mop up their disaster of a tenure.
And that’s just the ones that shut down in the first few months of this calendar year; 2025 was a gut-wrenching year for the food and drink industry, with indies all over the region and beyond having to fight tooth and nail to stay open for even just a few days of weekly trade.
Almost just as concerning has been some of the behaviour by some patrons, even here in our own city.
From more than one or two reports of people walking out on their bills, people even nicking the most petty stuff, such as decorations and bar’s cushions, to a troubling number of no-shows that don’t just mean one less reservation – it can mean the next person missing out on a seat and people losing money.
Another nearby native commented: “I honestly think Manchester is on a tipping point for many people – what was ‘old’ Manchester, which many of us loved, is being slowly erased by the new. People here are saying basically ‘use it or lose it’.
“Fair enough, but there’s very little spare money about, and I hear lots of people saying they don’t go into town for the day to spend that money shopping and for a meal or treat-day because they don’t ‘recognise the place’.”
They go on to add: “Most importantly, they often say they don’t like Manchester now. The towers that are shoved in places where you could see daylight and there was space to walk and breathe are overwhelming.
“I’m not being reactionary – I love New Islington and Cutting Room Square, etc., but NQ has lost its grit, and I find Deansgate really soulless and depressing when once I used to go out every night after work for drinks, and go in every month with the family on a Saturday for culture, shop and a meal.
“No more. Love Manchester, but I’m not in love with it anymore. Topkapi was great once, and it’s sad it’s gone.” A passionate appeal, indeed.
It goes without saying that rising energy bills, untenable business rates, rent, and a general cost of living crisis mean that people simply don’t have enough money to go out for tea, treat themselves to a drink in a nice bar, or even just go to the pub as often as they once did.
We’re by no means experts, but it’s easy for all to see that something needs to be done and fast, as we’d like to avoid seeing any more of our hard-working Manc favourites falling by the wayside and joining the list of those that we’re still mourning to this day.
The Manc -
16th July 2021 
