A bar in Manchester’s Gay Village is being forced to close its doors, having amassed numerous complaints from local residents.
Tribeca, a long-standing late-night bar in the area, has been ordered to close for a month whilst it gets its affairs in order after authorities were inundated with complaints around excessive noise, Covid rule-breaking, and police interventions.
The bar has had its license suspended, meaning it will have to shut its doors for a month in a few weeks’ time.
Both Manchester police and the council have called for the suspension of Tribeca’s license after previous promises that issues would be rectified were broken, with councillors reportedly coming ‘very, very, very close’ to shutting the bar down entirely.
Now, a former boss of the bar is stepping in in a bid to save it from permanent closure.
ADVERTISEMENT
Image: The Manc Group
At a Town Hall hearing explaining the decision, licensing chair Paul Andrews said: “We are giving Tribeca the chance to get things back on track to where you used to be which is why we’ve decided not to revoke [the licence].
“Best of luck for the future – but please don’t come in front of the licensing panel again.”
ADVERTISEMENT
Lee Montgomery previously ran the bar, up until 2019, and has been the leaseholder since 2010.
Now, he’s stepping in as a designated supervisor at Tribeca after Manchester council officer Margaret Lewis called for a ‘complete change’ with a ‘new regime’.
A change of management in 2019 saw Hayley O’Keefe, previously an Events Manager, take over the premises before the Covid pandemic.
In early 2020, she was in the premises of purchasing the license when the pandemic hit – leaving her struggling to pay bills and ultimately becoming homeless and living in the bar, before being advised to move by fire services.
She is said to have forged documents that she later gave to the police in ‘panic’, and later faced a fine for failing to empty the bar in time for the 10pm curfew.
Image: The Manc Group
A lock-in with drug use was also reported to have taken place at Tribeca, a charge which Ms O’Keefe denies.
Police were called to the bar in January to reports of a ‘very large crowd’ gathered outside, and residents of apartments in Regency House reported numerous noise complaints with loud music playing until 4am.
She said: “The venue I run is what Manchester should have. It’s been an unprecedented horrifically difficult two years. I just ask for any opportunity to rectify it.”
O’Keefe also said, after the licensing hearing, that anyone who has a booking at the venue during its enforced period of closure will be refunded.
Tribeca will close for a month in 21 days’ time, starting on 10 May, in order to give the bar time to appeal the decision.
Feature image – The Manc Group
News
New endometriosis pill helping hundreds of women with ‘debilitating’ condition to be made available on NHS
Emily Sergeant
A groundbreaking new pill to help women with a ‘debilitating’ condition is set to be made available on the NHS.
The new daily pill for endometriosis – which has been approved for use on the NHS in England by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) – is called linzagolix, and will be available for those who have had previous treatment for endometriosis, working to manage any symptoms they may be experiencing.
Around 1.5 million women in the UK are thought to be currently living with endometriosis.
Endometriosis can cause chronic pain, heavy periods, and extreme tiredness when tissue similar to the womb lining grows elsewhere in the body.
A new daily pill for endometriosis has been approved for use on the NHS, and could help over a thousand women in England every year manage the symptoms of the debilitating condition.
As mentioned, linzagolix will be available specifically for patients whose previous medical or surgical treatments for endometriosis have been unsuccessful, and will be given alongside ‘add-back’ hormone therapy – which involves using low-dose hormone replacement therapy (HRT) to prevent menopause-like symptoms and bone loss.
This is the second take-at-home treatment to be approved to treat endometriosis on the NHS, and it’s thought that more than 1,000 women will benefit.
In clinical trials, linzagolix was shown to be successful in reducing painful periods and non-menstrual pelvic pain, compared with placebo, hence why it has been approved on the NHS by NICE.
“This is welcome news for women with endometriosis who haven’t found relief from previous therapies or surgery,” commented Dr Sue Mann, who is the National Clinical Director in Women’s Health for NHS England.
“It’s another treatment option which will help women take control of their health and better manage the symptoms of this often painful and debilitating condition.
“This is a testament to our ongoing commitment to improving treatment, care and quality of life for women.”
Featured Image – Heute
News
Wigan woman jailed after hitting pedestrian in Fiat 500 while driving high on nitrous oxide ‘balloons’
Emily Sergeant
A young woman from Wigan has been handed jail time after hitting a pedestrian while driving high on nitrous oxide.
Louisa Tunstall was driving a white Fiat 500 towards the East Lancashire Road in Wigan at around 7pm on Friday 24 May 2024 – a time when traffic conditions were said to be ‘quiet’ – but Tunstall was under the influence of a now-banned drug, nitrous oxide, at the time of the incident, Greater Manchester Police (GMP) confirmed.
While driving under the influence, 19-year-old Tunstall veered to the left onto the pavement and collided with a 51-year-old woman pedestrian.
After striking the woman, the car then overturned and, in the process, caused serious life-changing injuries.
When questioned by police, Tunstall stated that she ‘took her eyes off the road’ to retrieve something in the footwell before knowing the car had flipped, but she also confirmed that she had just been out to purchase nitrous oxide to use that evening.
After obtaining witness accounts, investigating officers were able to track down nearby CCTV footable which showed Tunstall inhaling nitrous oxide through a balloon whilst driving, seconds before the collision occurred.
#JAILED | It's not a laughing matter when you get behind the wheel under the influence of drugs.
Now Louisa Tunstall has to spend over a year behind bars after inhaling nitrous oxide and causing serious injury in #Wigan last year.
— Greater Manchester Police (@gmpolice) May 14, 2025
Further investigation by GMP’s Forensic Vehicle Examination Unit examined the Fiat 500 and confirmed that no defects were found on the car to contribute towards the collision.
Still to this day, the victim says she is trying to recover from the injuries sustained to her leg that will prevent her from continuing life as she did before.
“The incident is still very raw when I think about it,” the victim explained in her impact statement released by GMP. “I become upset when I think at everything which has been taken away from me and the ongoing affect it has had and continues to have on my daily life.”
GMP says it’s seeing the use of nitrous oxide being a factor in incidents they attend increasing year on year.
Nitrous oxide, also known as ‘laughing gas’, is reported to produce euphoria, relaxation, dizziness, giggling or laughing fits, impaired judgement, and occasionally dissociation and hallucinations – which GMP says affects reaction time and and is ‘likely lead to impairment’ in driving performance, particularly when faced with an unexpected or hazardous situation.
Tunstall appeared at Bolton Crown Court this week, and has been sentenced to one year and eight months imprisonment for having possession of a Class C drug, driving under the influence of drugs, and causing serious injury by dangerous driving.
Alongside being jailed, she was also disqualified from driving for two years and eight months, and has been ordered to take an extended test when she is released.
Georgina Pellant -
20th April 2022 
