Bury Council has insisted that Bury Market is “still open for business” despite a number of shock temporary stall closures.
It comes after the news broke this morning (27 October) that a total of 49 traders based in the indoor section of the Greater Manchester town’s world-famous Market had been ordered, with immediate effect, to shut up shop for the time being.
The multi award-winning Market – which has been voted the nation’s favourite market on two occasions recently – dates all the way back to 1440, and has operated from several town centre sites over the centuries, but it moved to its current home in the early 1970s after the previous market hall burned down in 1968.
Closures are while necessary safety investigations on the Market’s roof and building are conducted.
In a statement addressing the shock partial closure of the Market today, Bury Council said the safety investigations required to be carried out will determine whether any repairs to the roof and building are required.
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This is because some RAAC (Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete) was used in the original construction of the building.
IMPORTANT NOTICE 🔔
There has been a partial closure to carry out safety works at Bury Market affecting our Market Hall/Indoor Market stalls.
Please note, our Open Market and Fish & Meat Hall stalls will be open as normal.
Councillor Charlotte Morris, who is the cabinet member for Culture and the Economy at Bury Council, said the safety of traders and customers is the Council’s “top priority”.
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“As a precaution, we have taken the decision to close the market hall while we carry out further investigatory work,” Cllr Morris explained.
“These measures only affect the indoor stalls, so our large outdoor market, and the fish and meat hall, will remain open for business [and] we are working with the 49 traders affected to find nearby alternative premises for them while this safety work is carried out.
“Once the site investigations have been carried out, we will be able to announce what remedial work needs to be done, and what the timescale for that will be.
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Council insists Bury Market is ‘still open for business’ despite shock temporary closure / Credit: Bury Market (via Facebook)
“But in the meantime, please show your support for our brilliant market traders and come along and snap up the usual range of bargains in our unique market atmosphere.”
Bury Council has apologised to all the affected traders, and to the Market’s many customers for the “inconvenience” the temporary closures will cause.
No reopening dates have been confirmed, as of yet.
Featured Image – Bury Market (via Facebook)
News
Greater Manchester bin and recycling collection dates for Christmas and New Year 2025
Danny Jones
We know it’s a somewhat boring bit of life admin, but anyone who’s been caught out missing the refuse collection dates when the various recycling bins inevitably pile up over Christmas and New Year will know it’s worth knowing ahead of time.
Let’s help you avoid any unnecessary trips to the tip or having to find other ways to get rid of extra rubbish this holiday season.
You can thank us later.
Here are all of the relevant bin collection dates for each of the 10 Greater Manchester boroughs this Christmas 2025 and the first few days of the New Year.
When are the bins being collected this Christmas?
Bolton
Grey bins
Wednesday 31 December 2025
Wednesday 14 January 2026
Wednesday 28 January 2026
Wednesday 11 February 2026
Beige bins
Wednesday 7 January 2026
Wednesday 4 February 2026
Burgundy bins
Wednesday 24 December 2025
Wednesday 7 January 2026
Wednesday 21 January 2026
Wednesday 4 February 2026
Green bins
Wednesday 7 January 2026
Wednesday 1 January 2026
Wednesday 4 February 2026
Wednesday 18 February 2026
Bury
Brown bin collections will be paused from Monday, 22 December to Sunday, 4 January, while dates for grey, green and blue bins will also change for most households until January.
Bury Council has advised that bins should be put out at the usual collection point by 7am and all waste must fit inside the bins with the lids fully closed.
A full list of revised collection dates:
Thursday, 25 December, will change to Wednesday, 24 December
Friday, 26 December, will change to Monday, 29 December
Tuesday, 30 December (no change)
Wednesday, 31 December (no change)
Thursday, 1 January 2026, will change to Friday, 2 January
Friday, 2 January, will change to Saturday, 3 January
Manchester (central)
No change to collections on Monday, 22 December and Monday, 29 December
No change to collections on Tuesday, 23 December and Tuesday, 30 December
No change to collections on Wednesday, 24 December and Wednesday, 31 December
Thursday collections move from Thurs, 25 Dec to Sat, 27 Dec, and 1 January to Fri, 2 January 2026
Friday collections move from Fri, 26 Dec to Sun, 28 Dec and from Fri, 2 Jan to Sat, 3 Jan
Oldham
Bins due on Christmas Day (December 25):
Blue bins will be collected on Monday, 29 December
Grey bins will be collected on Tuesday, 30 December
Brown bins will be collected on Wednesday, 31 December
Green bins and food caddies to be collected on Thursday, 18 December and Saturday, 3 January
Bins due on Boxing Day (26 December):
Blue, grey and brown bins will be collected on Saturday, 20 December
Green bins and food caddies to be collected as normal on (Fri, 19 December and 2 Jan 2026)
Bins due Monday, 29 December to Wednesday, 31 December:
Blue, grey, and brown bins will be collected as normal
Green bin and food caddy a week earlier from 22-24 December and one week later from Jan 5-7.
Bins due on New Year’s Day (Thursday, January 1):
All bins will be collected on Saturday, January 3.
Rochdale
Thursday, 25 December 2025 (Christmas Day) – your bin collection will move to Sat, 27 Dec
Friday, 26 December 2025 (Boxing Day) – your bin collection will move to Mon, 29 Dec
Thursday, 1 January 2026 – your bin collection will move to Sat, 3 Jan 2026
Salford
NO COLLECTION
REPLACEMENT DATE
Thursday 25 December 2025
Saturday 20 December 2025
Friday 26 December 2025
Saturday 27 December 2025
Thursday 1 January 2026
Saturday 3 January 2026
Stockport
The next black bin collection will be on Monday, 29 December
Blue bins will be collected on Friday, 2 January 2026
Brown and green bins will also be collected on Friday, 2 January
Tameside
Thursday 25 December – No Collections
If you are due a green (general waste) bin collection, it will be collected on Monday, 29 December
If you are due a black (comingled recycling waste) or a blue (paper recycling waste) bin collection, it will be collected on Wednesday, 31 December
Friday 26 December – No Collections
If you are due a green (general waste) bin collection, it will be collected on Tuesday, 30 December
If you are due a black (comingled recycling waste) or a blue (paper recycling waste) bin collection, it will be collected on Friday, 2 January
Thursday 1 January – No Collections
If you are due a green (general waste) bin collection, it will be collected on Monday, 5 January
If you are due a black (comingled recycling waste) or a blue (paper recycling waste) bin collection, it will be collected on Tuesday, 6 January
All other green, black and blue bin collections are due to run as normal over the festive period.
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Trafford
NORMAL BIN DAY
NEW COLLECTION DATE
Monday 22 December
No change
Tuesday 23 December
No change
Wednesday 24 December
No change
Thursday 25 December
Saturday 27 December
Friday 26 December
Saturday 27 December
Monday 29 December
No change
Tuesday 30 December
No change
Wednesday 31 January
No change
Thursday 1 January
Friday 2 January
Friday 2 January
Saturday 3 January
Green bins and food waste
There will be no green bin collections during Christmas week. Any green bins presented from Monday, 22 to Friday, 26 December will not be collected; the green bin collection service will resume from Monday, 29 December.
Wigan
Bin collections, which usually take place on Tuesdays, will be done on Monday, 22 December and Tuesday, 30 December.
Those whose rubbish is normally collected on Wednesdays will move to Tuesday, 23 December and Wednesday, 31 December.
Thursday bin dates will move to Wednesday, 24 December and Friday, 2 January 2026.
Bin collections normally scheduled on Fridays will be carried out on Saturday, 27 December and Saturday, 3 January 2026.
Green bin collections will be suspended from Monday, 29 December until 9 January; the normal schedule will then resume starting January 12 or 19 – depending on the area.
We hope you have a wonderful, stress-free Christmas and New Year; as for those of you still looking to buy those last few bits, you might find the list below helpful, too.
NASA reveals exact time you can see ‘Santa’s sleigh’ fly over Greater Manchester this Christmas
Emily Sergeant
There’s not long left until Santa and his reindeer crew fly over the skies of Manchester to drop off all those presents.
And it seems like Manchester must have been extra nice this year, as Santa is treating us to lots of chances to catch a glimpse of him on his mission to deliver millions of gifts in time for Christmas.
Just like every year, Santa is dusting off his sleigh and polishing his boots to prepare for his biggest night visiting lots of kids and families. The sleigh is being filled with lots of goodies and surprises as we speak… it’s almost like he can smell the milk and cookies from here.
NASA, one of the world’s leading space companies, has been working meticulously to find out Santa’s route for 2025.
The world-renowned space agency has given us an exact time to look up at the stars to spot the main man himself and catch the glimmer of lights from his sleigh.
NASA has reveals the exact time you can see ‘Santa’s sleigh’ flying over Greater Manchester this Christmas / Credit: Tim Mossholder (via Unsplash)
As a man who has lots of experience globe trotting, it’s safe to say the big man knows how to efficiently cover as many houses as possible all in one night.
Santa’s sleigh will, coincidentally (*wink wink), be present at the same time as the International Space Station (ISS), however anyone looking to see this festive vehicle can notice the lights won’t change direction and will not flash.
This time round, Santa is swooshing round Greater Manchester on Christmas Day a whole hour earlier than last year, meaning that nice list must be the longest it’s ever been.
___
Wednesday 24 December
5:21am
Santa’s sleigh lights will be visible for two minutes travelling South East to East, as the man of Christmas weighs up his North West delivery route.
6:54am
There’s a six minute opportunity to catch those bright lights of Santa’s sleigh in the Manchester sky as he travels from West to South East, finalising his map before the big night ahead.
Thursday 25 December
4:35am
It will be visible for less than a minute, no movement, in a static position. Santa will be doing a headcount of all the houses to make sure he’s not missed a single chimney.
6:08am
The sleigh will be seen for four minutes, moving from South West to South East, by now Santa will have finished his Manchester delivery drop and will be heading on over the hill to our friends in Leeds.
Emily Sergeant -
27th October 2023 
