Euro 2020 clean up will cost ‘millions’ as beer bottles and flags fill the streets
Research by waste collection experts, BusinessWaste.co.uk, has shown that the clean-up bill for Euro 2020 final celebrations will end up costing millions.
It has been estimated that the clean up after the Euro 2020 final could cost “millions” as beer bottles, flags and more are seen strewn on the streets.
It was a triumphant run to the final by a team that captured the hearts of the nation and brought people together after a tough 15 months, but millions right across the UK have woken up this morning to the reality that Gareth Southgate’s Three Lions squad couldn’t quite clinch the win to bring home England’s first international victory since 1966.
The weight of a crushing defeat isn’t the only thing we’ve woken up to though.
With shocking scenes of litter piling up on the streets of central London and other major UK cities having emerged on social media this morning, research by waste collection experts, BusinessWaste.co.uk, has shown that the clean-up bill for Euro 2020 final celebrations will end up costing millions of pounds.
As well as the countless images and videos found on social media and in media outlets, a short video by TikTok user H0rridhenryz has gone viral this morning, showing the sheer scale of the litter left behind on the streets of the capital.
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“This is disgusting,” the video explained.
It was predicted prior to kick-off that local councils would struggle with the excess waste generated by fans, particularly by groups of people using public spaces to celebrate without being mindful of the costs of cleaning up afterwards.
“It’s understandable that people wanted to have a few drinks,” said Mark Hall, Communications Director at BusinessWaste.co.uk, “but the cost of cleaning these areas can really stretch waste management budgets.
“It has a real knock-on effect for local authorities.”
Bars and pubs are too struggling with the excess waste generated by football fans, with some venues having reported as much as four times the amount of their usual weekly waste.
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According to BusinessWaste.co.uk, last night alone, England will of discarded:
150,000 plastic pint glasses
200,000 kebab and takeaway trays
100,000 pizza boxes
150,000 England flags
One million glass bottles
With the game going to extra time and penalties, this also meant that an extra £10,000 would have been added to each local council’s street cleaning bill – as anxious fans grabbed a few more drinks and a takeaway to settle their nerves.
Mark Hall continue: “As a nation, we were all looking forward to watching England play in the final – however, it won’t just be fans waking up with a hangover today.
“Companies, waste collection teams and local councils will also have a costly environmental hangover to deal with.”
Featured Image – Twitter
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Derelict Manchester office block to become ‘vital’ accommodation for homeless families
Emily Sergeant
A derelict former office block in Manchester is set to become vital accommodation for homeless families in the region.
Manchester City Council has announced that, subject to planning approval, new temporary accommodation for dozens of homeless families will be created on the site of a derelict former office block in south Manchester, off Nell Lane in Chorlton.
The Council acquired the 1.1 acre site last month with the support of the Government’s Local Authority Housing Fund.
The initiative – which is part of wider plans to boost the city’s stock of quality temporary accommodation – will see self-contained two-bedroom accommodation created for around 55 homeless families built where former NHS offices, Mauldeth House, currently stand.
Mauldeth House has been empty for several years now at this point, and had become somewhat of a ‘blight’ on the neighbourhood, attracting anti-social behaviour along the way and being targeted by squatters – but with the plans for the new accommodation, this could change for the better.
The site, and therefore the new accommodation, is said to be ‘ideally located’ for families, as it’s close to shops, schools, public transport, leisure facilities, and Chorlton Park.
The new accommodation will see families supported by a specialist team based on site to help them move on as quickly as possible into permanent settled tenancies, which is, of course, the long-term goal for many.
The Mauldeth House initiative is cited as being one example of the Council’s drive to increase its temporary accommodation stock across the city to reduce the number of out-of-area placements.
Other successful examples of this initiative include Mariana House in Whalley Range, and The Poplars in Rusholme.
It also comes after it was announced last month that homeless children in Greater Manchester, particularly those who are placed in temporary accommodation out of area for their school, will now get free bus travel to and from school.
“Mauldeth House is a great example of how we can put derelict properties to good use to benefit those experiencing homelessness, as well as making our neighbourhood look better,” explained Deputy Council Leader, Cllr Joanna Midgley.
“We are tackling homelessness on many fronts, the most important one being prevention, but we also need an increased supply of good quality temporary accommodation within the city so that if people do become homeless they are not uprooted from their social support networks.
“One of the ways we are doing this is through the innovative use of existing sites whether they are council owned or we are able to acquire them, as in the case of Mauldeth House.”
Featured Image – Manchester City Council
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Bolton woman who falsely accused 10 men of raping her has been jailed
Emily Sergeant
A woman from Bolton who falsely accused 10 different men of raping her over a six-year period has now been jailed.
Stacey Sharples, 31 from Farnworth in Bolton, pleaded guilty of 10 counts of perverting the course of justice in relation to reports against 10 separate men at Bolton Crown Court earlier last month (2 February 2026), before appearing in court again this week to be sentenced.
The investigation into Sharples was launched after the arrests and questioning of almost all these men, and following the pursuing of all relevant lines of enquiry, which consistently revealed evidence contrary to what had been disclosed by Sharples.
Greater Manchester Police (GMP) says investigations of this nature are ‘extremely rare’ and the decision to pursue Sharples as a suspect was ‘not one taken lightly’.
“However, it is our duty to act in the public interest and on the evidence and information we uncover and receive, which in this case demonstrated a continuous, wilful making of false allegations, knowing full well the consequences for each of the men involved,” GMP said in a statement following Sharples’ sentencing.
Of the allegations Sharples pleaded guilty to – of which were made over a six-year period between 2013 and 2019 – most of the men were arrested and spent time in custody, with some also undertaking intimate examinations, and almost all spending periods of time on police bail or released under investigation.
Statements from the men accused by Stacey Sharples / Credit: GMP
GMP says there’s ‘no doubt’ the reports and arrests have had an impact on these men, their sense of self and relationships, their wider networks, and how they move forward with their lives.
False accounts also undermine those who have genuinely experienced sexual violence.
Police say it also affects the confidence in the criminal justice system, and that the time spent investigating Sharples’ reports could have been put towards investigating ‘genuine reports of sexual offences’ instead.
Sharples has been sentenced to four-and-a-half years in prison this week after pleading guilty to making false rape allegations.
Speaking following Sharples’ sentencing this week, Detective Sergeant Steven Gilliland, who investigated this case, said: “We took the allegations made by Stacey Sharples seriously, explored all lines of enquiry and swiftly made arrests or interviewed of all the men she accused.
“We gave her multiple opportunities to provide further explanation or information to us, after interviews with the men and subsequent evidence uncovered didn’t align with her first recollection, as we understand that trauma can impact how victims and survivors recount their experiences.
“Ultimately, as the evidence continued to demonstrate that the reports were untrue, coupled with the desire for justice from some of the men who had been falsely accused, it was right that we followed the evidence and pursued the individual who had actually committed a criminal offence.”
The Manc -
12th July 2021 
