A man has been arrested following the discovery of “human remains” in Salford last week, it has been confirmed.
Following the shocking discovery by a passerby in Kersal Wetlands in Salford last Thursday evening (4 April), and with a murder investigation still currently ongoing and proceeding at pace, Greater Manchester Police(GMP) has now confirmed that an arrest has been made.
A 20-year-old man, said to be “from the local area”, has been arrested on suspicion of murder, according to GMP.
He remains in police custody at this time, and will be questioned by detectives.
Through initial forensic and DNA testing, GMP has revealed it believes the victim whose remains have been found is a man who is likely to be aged older than 40, and who has only been deceased “for a matter of days” – but at this time, detectives are still “working hard” to determine the identity of the person.
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Detectives say their “main focus” at this moment in time is establishing who the victim is, and although they have not found anything else “of interest to the investigation” in the Kersal Wetlands area at this time, they are assuring the public that their work “will not stop until we are certain we have thoroughly searched this area”.
Local GMP officers and specialist branches within the force, such as search dogs and underwater search teams, are in the process of “combing through every inch of this area” until police are “satisfied” they have searched “as well as we can do”.
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With the murder investigation now ongoing, GMP has taken the time following this arrest to reissue its urgent appeal to the public.
“The arrest we made is an important step for our investigation,” commented Chief Superintendent Tony Creely, of GMP’s Salford district, “but we must keep an open mind, and a big part of this is speaking to anyone who may have crucial information.
“As we continue to work in the area, I would like to take this opportunity to thank the public for their concern and cooperation so far, and we are mindful this is a disturbing incident for the local community, but I can assure you that since we were made aware, we’ve been pursuing every single line of enquiry to help us find out what has happened.”
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CS Creely says he “cannot stress enough” the importance of people contacting police with information regarding the case if they know anything at all.
He continued: “You may have information that you don’t feel is of importance, but it could be to us, so please pass it on. It could be the key piece of information we need to progress this investigation.”
Anyone who thinks they may have witnessed something suspicious in the Kersal Dale area over the last few days is asked to come forward by calling GMP on 101 and quoting log number 2695 of 4 April 2024, or submit any images or video footage via the dedicated Public Portal here.
Details can also be passed anonymously to the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
Featured Image – GMP
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The UK looks set for a ’30°C heatwave’ this summer, according to weather expert
Danny Jones
It’s been a bit of an up-and-down spring but the warm weather is finally starting to arrive here in Manchester, with temperatures reaching up to 21°C this week and the summery vibes only set to increase over the next month or so as meteorologists are predicting a 30°C heatwave soon enough.
March onwards has been a pure mix of blustery winds, grey skies and flashes of rainfall, with just a few glimpses of sun peeking through and the thermometer has still been struggling to get into double digits – until now anyway.
As we leave April behind, the forecast across the UK is looking a lot brighter and according to the likes of the Met Office, those numbers are going to keep creeping as we head deeper into the month.
In fact, some experts are predicting that Britain could be set for a heatwave with temperatures of 30°C and over in just over a month’s time. It better bloody hurry up, put it that way.
According to Jim Dale, Senior Meteorologist at British Weather Services, while much of May will be a bit of a mixed bag, “towards the latter stage and into June and July… we will see climbing temperatures well into the 30s in the prone areas.”
As reported by Birmingham Live, while Dale didn’t detail the kind of heat Manchester can expect, specifically, the indication is that the region is beginning to dry and the country as a whole is now heading “in the right direction”.
Although it likely won’t be until the very tail end of May that we start to see the summer as we know rolling in, the trends around the continent are suggesting positive signs, adding that “a lot of Europe is getting the scorching hot temperatures” of late.
The Met Office’s Tom Morgan also warned The Guardian that we get anything close to a heatwave this month, so we’ll have to be patient and wait for the turn come June time, especially up North.
While we did enjoy a heatwave in September of last year, hitting a top end of 33.5°C, the chances of the country challenging the most recent temperature record sat back in 2022 (40.3°C in July 2023) are still looking slim.
April has been described as a “month of two halves” overall and let’s just say we’re looking forward to a strong showing this May.
Where in Greater Manchester are you most looking forward to heading when summer finally arrives?
Featured Images — The Manc Group/Dunk (via Flickr)
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Co-op Live assures fans arena WILL open this week in time for Olivia Rodrigo and other gigs
Daisy Jackson
Manchester’s huge new arena the Co-op Live has assured fans that it will definitely, actually, for sure open this week.
The staggering new music venue beside the Etihad Stadium has been hit by a couple of high-profile delays in the last fortnight.
Although a test event with Rick Astley went ahead on 21 April, giving a small audience a glimpse inside the state-of-the-art arena, the brakes were slammed on soon afterwards.
Co-op Live pushed its opening date back while it ironed out some kinks, namely ‘power supply issues’, and underwent rigorous testing to ‘run all shows safely’.
That meant Peter Kay was rescheduled to 29 and 30 April… but then got postponed again, along with The Black Keys, who were meant to perform last weekend.
All the delays have left fans panicking that their shows will also be delayed, with some huge shows like Olivia Rodrigo, Take That, and Liam Gallagher lined up in the coming weeks and months.
But Co-op Live has now issued a statement reassuring gig-goers that they are full steam ahead and ready to open as planned this week.
The first act to perform here officially will now be A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie on 1 May (not quite as local a name as they were gunning for, but we move).
He’ll be followed by Olivia Rodrigo and her Guts Tour, who will perform two sold-out gigs on 3 and 4 May.
Then Keane will play the Co-op Live on 5 May to mark 20 years since the release of Hopes and Fears.
Co-op Live posted: “Let’s do this! Less than 48 hours until we kick off our full opening season.
“Our scheduled shows with @aboogievsartist, @oliviarodrigo and @keaneofficial are going ahead.
“Ticket holders can expect an email with everything they need to know about this week’s events to land in your inboxes tomorrow!”
Fans have breathed a sigh of relief at the news, with one person writing: “YAY THANK GOD OMG THIS IS AMAZING WAS LITERALLY HAVJNG A MENTAL BREAKDOWN BOUT OLIVIA BEING CANCELLED.”
Another commented: “THANK GOD!!! 4th mayyyy.”
Someone else posted: “IM SO HAPPY AHHHHHH I’VE BEEN NERVOUS ALL WEEK BUT NOW I KNOW ITS GONNA BE FINE AHHH.”
Olivia Rodrigo fans are BIG believers in an all-caps comment, clearly.
Co-op Live will open in Manchester on Wednesday 1 May.
It’s going to be worth the wait, we’re pretty sure…