News

Greater Manchester Police to be placed into special measures

Greater Manchester police are to be placed in special measures after inspectors expressed “serious cause for concern.”

The Manc The Manc - 17th December 2020
Tackling Crime, Travel related issues and ASB on the Transport network in Greater Manchester | Greater Manchester Police
GMP

Greater Manchester Police are to be placed into special measures following a report in which it was revealed the force had failed to record 80,000 crimes in 12 months.

Last week Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) criticised GMP for the reported failures and expressed a “serious cause for concern.”

Inspectors said: “The level of scrutiny on Greater Manchester Police has been raised and the force has been placed in the Engage stage of the HMICFRS monitoring process.

“In the Engage stage, a force is required to develop an improvement plan to address the specific causes of concern that have led to it being placed in the advanced phase of the monitoring process.

“The process is intended to provide support to the force from external organisations including the Home Office, College of Policing and the National Police Chiefs Council to assist in achieving the required improvements.”

ADVERTISEMENT

Inspectors estimated that the force recorded 77.7% of reported crimes, a drop of 11.3% from 2018.

HM Inspector of Constabulary Zoe Billingham, the report’s author, said HMICFRS had been urging Greater Manchester Police to improve in this area since 2016.

ADVERTISEMENT

The report also found that the force wrongly and prematurely closed some investigations, including those where the victim was vulnerable.

Opinion | Why the recent publicised failures of Greater Manchester Police do not surprise me - Pie Radio
GMP

Following recent criticism, Andy Burnham, and Greater Manchester’s Deputy Mayor for Policing, Crime, Criminal Justice and Fire, Bev Hughes, announced a series of actions – including a hotline for anyone who feels the crime they are reporting has not been recorded.

Greater Manchester Police has been contacted for comment.

News

Huge bakery chain Gail’s confirms move to Prestwich – but spells village’s name wrong in signs

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson Huge bakery chain Gail's confirms move to Prestwich - but spells village's name wrong in signage

After months of swirling rumours, bakery group Gail’s has finally confirmed it’s moving to Prestwich – but locals have spotted a glaring error at the first hurdle.

The popular artisan bakery will be moving onto Bury New Road, right in the heart of the suburb and directly opposite the new Rudy’s pizzeria.

Prestwich locals have been hearing whispers of a Gail’s arriving for a few months, and finally the London-founded cafe has stuck up signs to confirm it’s on the way.

But the sign contains one crucial mistake – it’s spelled Prestwich wrong.

The red window displays now read ‘Hello Preswich. We’ll be baking here soon’.

One local messaged Gail’s to point out the error and to say it’s ‘not a great first impression for the locals…’.

Gail’s has since confirmed it’s in the process of fixing the signs.

The arrival of both Gail’s and Rudy’s has already caused a stir in Prestwich, which has always been fiercely independent and has only a handful of chains within it (Greggs and Costa are perched by the tram stop).

In fact, one local business-owner shared a moving statement about his concerns for the future of local businesses just a few weeks ago.

Gail's has confirmed it's opening a bakery in Prestwich
Gail's has confirmed it's opening a bakery in Prestwich
Gail’s has confirmed it’s opening a bakery in Prestwich. Credit: The Manc Group

First formed in the early 1990s as a wholesale-only operation, Gail’s opened its first cafe on Hampstead High Street in 2005.

Today the brand has more than 100 sites spread across London, Oxford, Brighton and further afield, and is known more as a customer-facing cafe and bakery.

It’s famed for its freshly-baked loaves, cinnamon buns, ham and cheese croissants and coffees, and is likely to go down a storm in Prestwich.

But the signs have been causing a bit of a stir in the wrong way this weekend – in a local Facebook group, one person commented: “Not locals who own it then.”

Another described it as an ‘epic fail’.

And one person said: “Oh the DRAMA of it all.”

Someone else joked: “I cannot wait for Gais to come to Preswich.”

Read more

Featured image: The Manc Group

News

Met Office issues snow warnings for large parts of northern England from this evening

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant

Greater Manchester could be waking up to a winter wonderland as weather warnings for snow and ice have been issued across northern England.

Expected to arrive anywhere from 6pm this evening (18 November) and last until around 10am tomorrow morning (19 November), the Met Office has issued a yellow weather warning for snow and ice for large parts of northern England – indicating that “snow may bring disruption to a central swathe of the UK during Monday night and Tuesday morning”.

Weather forecasters say that although most snow is likely to accumulate on higher ground, with five-10 cm on ground over 200 metres, and possibly 15-20 cm over 300 metres, there is a chance that snow may settle at lower levels “within the warning area”.

The Met Office also said that this possible five-10 cm at lower levels is likely to be “more disruptive”, particularly if travelling and if the snow coincides with rush hour, but the likelihood for that is still “uncertain” at this stage.

Greater Manchester could see snow from this evening as the Met Office has issued a yellow weather warning / Credit: Geograph | Pexels

As the rain, sleet, and snow begin to clear on tomorrow morning, ice may form on surfaces that are untreated.

“We have issued yellow warnings for snow and ice as cold weather moves in from the north,” explained Andy Page, who is a Chief Meteorologist at the Met Office.

“This brings snow showers and some ice to parts of Scotland on Sunday night, and then the potential for a spell of snow to lead to disruption to some transport routes across a central swathe of the UK on Tuesday morning.”

He further added that “gusty winds” in the east also remain a “potential hazard”.

“Updates to the warnings for wintry hazards are likely, so it is important to stay up to date with the latest forecast,” he concluded.

Read more:

In addition to the severe weather warnings, a Cold Health Alert has also been issued by the UKHSA, and it covers the north of England and the Midlands right through until Thursday.

Featured Image – Benjamin Elliott (via Unsplash)

More News

Crime

Murder investigation launched after two fatal stabbings in Moss Side

The Manchester 24 Hour Run Against Homelessness fundraising tally

Manchester

Manchester’s 24 Hour Run Against Homelessness raises a whopping £50k for ‘A Bed Every Night’

Police appeal to find next of kin after man found outside Palace Theatre

Manchester

Police appeal to find next of kin after man found outside Palace Theatre

Audio

Clint Boon takes us around Manchester's iconic Deaf Institute

Eats

We go meatballs deep with Mira's traditional Neapolitan sandwiches