Popular British supermarket chain Lidl has confirmed it will be giving its staff a much-deserved break this holiday season by revealing that almost all of their shops will be shut for three days as part of their Christmasopening times, including Boxing Day.
In addition to being shut on Christmas and New Year’s Day as usual, Lidl has announced that nearly all of their 960 stores around the UK will also be shut on Boxing Day this year as more and more brands are looking to reward their employees with some well-earned rest during the busiest time of the year.
The German-founded European franchise is one of the biggest discount food retailers not only here in Britain but across the continent, with upwards of 360,000 employees worldwide.
With that being said, they are well aware of how much of a toll the long hours can take during the festive period and feel it’s only fair to once again give their workers an extra day off and simply encourage people to get their shopping done ahead of time.
Lidl have once again confirmed they will be shut on Christmas, Boxing and New Year’s Day.
As per Lidl’s own data, the stats from 2022 showed that the busiest time for shoppers during Christmas were around midday, with the highest levels of footfall being recorded between 12 noon and 2pm.
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As a result, the supermarket is recommending that customers looking to avoid the crowds shop between 8am and 10am, or from 6pm onwards, which have proved to be some of the quietest times in-store over recent years.
They are also warning that the last Friday before Christmas this year, 22 December, is also likely to be the most hectic day, so don’t leave until too late if you don’t want to risk battling your way through the aisles.
However, for those of you hoping/needing to do a bit of shopping for whatever reason on Boxing Day, you can use Lidl’s store locator to check the opening times of your nearest branches.
Other affordable supermarkets and retailers such as Aldi, Poundland, Iceland and Home Bargains will also once again be shutting this Boxing Day.
And for anyone working in supermarkets, retail or hospitality during what we all know can be a very stressful and demanding time of the year, thank you in advance and we hope you have a wonderful break wherever it comes.
But it’s swings and roundabouts, as with all those impressive titles comes a less-than-impressive one, as the city has also been named one of the top 10 most congested cities with the worst traffic in the UK.
According to a new study conducted by the RAC, using data from INRIX, it was found that Manchester ranked number four on the list, as motorists lost a total of 61 hours stuck in traffic over the course of 2024 – which was estimated to cost them around £570 extra.
Manchester has been named one of the UK’s most congested cities / Credit: Manchester City Council (via Facebook)
Manchester wasn’t the only northern city on the list either, as Leeds and Sheffield also feature in the top 10, alongside the surprising addition of the lively Greater Manchester town of Wigan.
Yes, that’s right – it may not technically be a city, but for some reason, Wigan has also found itself featured on the list of UK’s most congested cities, as the study found that motorists there wasted an average of 57 hours stuck in traffic in 2024, and sadly had to part with an extra £532 because of it.
The UK’s most congested cities
London
Bristol
Leeds
Manchester
Bath
Birmingham
Wigan
Chelmsford
Sheffield
When it comes to the top spot on the list, that of course goes to London.
London’s drivers lost 101 hours sitting in congestion in 2024, which was a 2% increase in delays from the previous 12 months, and this means that the capital also accounts for approximately 50% of all UK traffic delay.
Looking nationally as a whole, the data also revealed that the country lost approximately £7.7 billion in 2024, which is £200 million more than in 2023.
The average UK driver lost around 62 hours due to traffic congestion last year, according to the study, which is up only one hour from the previous 12-month period, and this works out to £581 per driver per year.
Council tax could be increased to help keep Greater Manchester Police ‘one of the best’ in the UK
Emily Sergeant
Council tax could be increased to help keep Greater Manchester Police ‘one of the best police forces in the country’.
Residents across Greater Manchester are being urged to have their say on proposals to increase the police precept that forms part of their council tax bill.
In case you weren’t familiar, three quarters of police funding comes from a central Government grant, but the remaining quarter comes from Greater Manchester Combined Authority‘s (GMCA) police precept, all of which helps enable Greater Manchester Police (GMP) to build on a range of improvements delivered over the last few years.
Funding helps GMP to further improve the speed of answering 999 and 101 calls, reduce and prevent neighbourhood crimes and Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB), improve road and transport safety across Manchester city centre, and bring more sex offenders to justice, among many other things.
Have your say on how we fund GMP’s vital services.
Your input helps us retain neighbourhood policing and keep Greater Manchester safe.
Together, we can ensure we are delivering the commitments that matter most to you.
— Greater Manchester Combined Authority (@greatermcr) January 7, 2025
According to GMCA, these are some of the things that people in the region said were “important to them” following “extensive engagement and consultation” with communities.
The proposed increase to the residents’ council tax bills would be £14 a year for a ‘Band D’ property (£1.17 a month), which equates to £10.89 per year (91 pence a month) for an average ‘Band B’ property – with the majority of properties in Greater Manchester falling within Bands A and B.
Addressing the potential increase, Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham said: “We set out a number of commitments last year on what Greater Manchester Police would deliver with the precept, and they delivered on every one of them.
Council tax could be increased to help keep Greater Manchester Police ‘one of the best’ in the UK / Credit: gov.uk
GMP are now answering 999 calls in record time, attending incidents sooner and investing in neighbourhood policing and crime prevention teams [and] as a result, we’ve seen crime reduce across the board, with the most marked improvement in neighbourhood crime which has reduced by 17% in the past year.”
He continued: “I know that times are tough for our residents, but investment through the precept is vital to maintain this improvement.
Danny Jones -
23rd November 2023 
