Clonezone, an adult store in Manchester’s Gay Village, has been broken in to for a third time in six weeks.
The shocking spate of vandalism against the local business, which has been part of the city for almost 40 years, last night saw its windows smashed with a crowbar.
The vandals reportedly sped off from the scene on a moped.
Canal Street Media shared photos of the shop, which was the UK & EU’s first Gay superstore, on Instagram, writing: “We’re sad to report that for a 3rd time in 6 weeks @czmanchester has had their windows smashed in.
“It’s evident that @gtrmanchesterpolice and @manchestercitycouncil need to act now to protect #lgbt spaces.”
Jeremy Hoad, chair of Friends of Manchester’s Gay Village Committee, posted on Facebook: “Clonezone has been attacked for a third time with both windows smashed with crowbars.
“FOMGV Chair Jeremy Hoad spoke to staff this evening to check they were OK and offer support against this violence.
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“Coincidentally, Jeremy and FOMGV Deputy Chair John Cotterill attended a meeting only hours before this latest attack to discuss policing in the Gay Village alongside others from our community.
Clonezone Manchester. Credit: The Manc Group
“GMP are already investigating the first two attacks and providing an additional presence in the Gay Village.
“We stand together against any and all violence targeted at individuals or businesses in the Gay Village.”
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Glitterbeam Radio posted on Twitter: “We are shocked to see that Clonezone Manchester has been vandalised AGAIN. It’s the 3rd time in 6 weeks. @AndyBurnhamGM @gmpolice we hope in your intervention with a matter of emergency.”
Another person said: “Yet again it looks like CloneZone, a queer business that is located right in the heart of the Gay Village of Manchester, has been targeted and vandalised in clearly targeted hate and harassment. This has got to stop.”
Someone else posted: “My thoughts with the team at @czmanchester who are putting up with endless hate at the moment. I hope all the queer community rally behind them and give them support as they have been putting up with endless targeted hate. We must defend our community.”
My thoughts with the team at @czmanchester who are putting up with endless hate at the moment. I hope all the queer community rally behind them and give them support as they have been putting up with endless targeted hate. We must defend our community pic.twitter.com/qA13ZObrD0
Less than two weeks ago, Clonezone reported another incident of targeted vandalism.
They wrote at the time: “It saddens me to, again, be writing this but would like to thank everyone for the outpouring of well wishes and support we have received after the second incident of targeted vandalism against Clonezone Manchester.
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“All the staff are safe and well. And Clonezone Manchester is open for business as usual.
“We are working with the police and other village businesses to try and find the culprits and bring them to justice.
“If anyone does have any information or witnessed two grown male-presenting people on a motorbike driving along Sackville Street on Thursday 13th April, at around 9:40pm, please get in touch. You will be kept anonymous, should you wish.
“Once again a huge thankyou from the team at Clonezone Manchester for all the support and kind words. We will not be beaten by this.”
Six teenage boys arrested following stabbing of 13-year-old in Rochdale town centre
Emily Sergeant
Six teenage boys have been arrested following the stabbing of a 13-year-old in Rochdale town centre over the weekend.
Greater Manchester Police (GMP) explained that officers were called out to reports of a ‘serious assault’ near the Riverside Shopping Centre in central Rochdale on Saturday (29 August), and when they arrived on the scene, they found that a 13-year-old boy had been stabbed.
The young boy currently remains in hospital receiving treatment, while a police investigation into the incident is open and ongoing.
Two teenage boys were first arrested on suspicion of assault and possession of a bladed article on the same day the incident occurred (29 August), but have since been released on bail.
Officers then made four further arrests yesterday (31 August), again all teenage boys who were arrested on suspicion of assault and possession of a bladed article, with enquires ongoing.
A Section 60 and 60AA ‘stop and search’ authority was introduced in Rochdale town centre following the recent incidents in area and following reports of youths carrying weapons in the locality, and this has now been extended to 3pm today (Tuesday 1 September).
“This was a serious and sustained attack that could have had far more tragic consequences,” explained Detective Superintendent, Richard Hunt .”Our team of experienced detectives is working around the clock to understand exactly what happened, identify all those involved, and secure the strongest possible evidence.
“We will relentlessly pursue every lead available to us and will leave no stone unturned in bringing all those responsible before the courts.
“Community safety remains our absolute priority, and we are committed to ensuring those who seek to bring violence onto our streets are held fully accountable for their actions.”
Can you help? Anyone who witnessed the incident, was in the town centre at the time, or has any mobile phone, CCTV, or dashcam footage, is urged to come forward and speak to police on 101, quoting log 2750 of 29/08/2026, or using the LiveChat function on the GMP website.
Alternatively, you can contact Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.
Featured Image – GMP
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High School Musical at Lowry, Salford – a night spent reliving our childhood | Review
Amy Williams
What a night spent reliving our childhood.
Now, I don’t want to exaggerate or seem biased, considering this is one of my favourite film trilogies of all time, but this could be the best stage show I’ve seen in a long while.
We all know how High School Musical goes, right? Set at East High, we follow Troy and Gabriella (the star basketball player, and the geeky new girl) who meet over New Year, and then become ‘star-crossed lovers’ when back at school as they’re part of two different ‘cliques’.
The duo mess with the ‘Status Quo’ when they audition for the school musical. But will they stick to what they know? Or become stars of the stage? I’m sure you know the ending.
High School Musical is currently on stage at Lowry, Salford / Credit: Matt Crockett (Supplied)
From the costumes and the characters, to the memorable songs (there’s actually 52 songs in this production, including a mega mix at the end), they’ve kept right to the script of the films – and that’s exactly what we wanted to see.
Of course, the biggest throwback of them all is Kaycee Stroh – who originally featured as Martha Cox in the film trilogy – taking the role as Ms Darbus, and she was just as incredible as we expected her to be. And to see her do the iconic dance in the finale was unbelievable, 13-year-old Amy was screaming.
Also featuring Jason Donovan as Coach Bolton, Tobias Turley as Troy, Leonor Correia as Gabriella, Caitlin Tipping Sharpay, and Luke Bayer as Ryan, it was a proper impressive cast all round.
It’s a night to properly relive your mid-00s childhood / Credit: Matt Crockett (Supplied)
There was crowd interaction right from the off, as they taught the crowd a cheerleading routine to be included later in the show, plus for the finale, they had the lyrics on the big screen too so everyone could sing-along.
If we could go and see this show every single night, we would – it is absolutely brilliant.
Daisy Jackson -
25th April 2023 
